I'll Always Protect You
by SamanthaRoseHeartfillia
Summary: Sting X Reader: Sabertooth has been your home for as long as you can remember. And you couldn't have been prouder when Sting took over as Master. Now you may finally have the chance to stop watching your life long crush from the shadows, but will getting closer to Sting only cause harm to those close to you? It sure seems that way as things get complicated fast!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So I had to write a fic about the Twin Dragons, because I love them too much to be healthy, especially Sting! :3 Anyway this is my first reader insert fic and I've had this idea for a while. I thought a reader insert with Sting would be so cute, so I wrote one. Enjoy! :)**

You wake up to the rowdy sounds of your guild, Sabertooth. It had been like this since Minerva and Jiemma were kicked out of the guild after the Grand Magic Games and Sting took over as master. No longer did Sabertooth's members feel fear of their master. The days of Jiemma's tyrannical reign were over and people were a lot happier. With Jiemma gone all of Sabertooth really got to find out how many of their members were really loyal to their Lady Minerva and Jiemma. Those loyal left, and you with your guild members were left to recruit new members in the hopes of building up Sabertooth's strength, the right way, as comrades.

You certainly admired Sting for all he did after and during the Grand Magic Games. He grew up a lot after the experience. In truth you thought meeting Natsu and Gajeel in person was the best thing that could have happened to the twin dragons. After being in this guild for as long as you have, the years almost adding up to your age, you got to see Sting grow up. You saw how his heart broke when Lector was thought to be dead, you saw his pride crumble at the feet of the Fairy Tail wizards. Then you saw him get back up again and continue on, as a better man. Now you felt about as much pride for Sting as a proud mother would.

But Sting had never really noticed you before, you assumed you were just another face in the crowd for him. No, Sting had his eyes on Yukino...not you. You didn't blame Yukino though, she was your best friend. You cried the night Jiemma banished her from the guild, and when Sting welcomed her back in with open arms. Sadly that was just the way things were. Sting loved Yukino and you loved Sting. Things may have gotten better but they were still complicated.

You sat up in the bed you'd chosen for the night. A small couch away from the guild's main hall. It was comfortable but whenever the guild woke up so did you. Yukino asked if you wanted to stay in her apartment but you didn't think it'd be right. It was your fault you had been kicked out of the family home. After the way Sabertooth betrayed Jiemma your family wanted nothing more to do with you. You didn't blame them either, they were extremely loyal to Jiemma and you did side with the twin dragons over your own family. Staying with Yukino would prove pointless to you, there was no reason to burden others with the problems you created.

You sighed, letting your (h/c) locks fall around your shoulders. You tried to fix your hair best you could with no mirror and righted your ruffled clothing, using the nearby bathroom to change into new clothes from your suitcase. Folding the guilds blanket back up you readied yourself for facing the guild.

_This has to be it…_ You told yourself. _This has to be the day I tell Sting how I feel about him...tomorrow may be too late...It's now or never!_ The usual pep talk lifted your spirits as always but it never lasted when you were actually in front of Sting. He took your breath away, made you feel lightheaded and made your heartbeat increase. It was pitiful how ridiculously in love with him you were.

You walked the corner to meet the rest of the guild in the main hall, putting on a fake smile like all the other days. The usual crowd greeted you, Rufus and Orga giving you a friendly hello as you walked by. Yukino spotted you walking and called you over to the table where she sat with the twin dragons and their exceeds.

"(y/n)! C'mon over!" She called to you cheerfully, her hand waving in the air gathering more attention than just you. Sting looked over at you with that same beautiful smile full of pride that you loved about him. Rogue was sitting quietly talking with Frosch when you walked over and took the seat between him and Yukino. "How are you?" Yukino asked.

"I'm good." You assured everyone, all other words failing you.

"(Y/n)?" Sting contemplated your name, looking thoughtful. "Of course how could I forget?!" He exclaimed giving you a look of apology and guilt. "You've been a part of this guild for as long as I can remember. Really sorry I couldn't seem to recall. I guess there's still so much I need to learn about my guild members and about being master…" He spoke shyly, letting his face grow red.

You giggled. "It's OK. I think you're doing a great job at being master."

Sting shot you a look of thanks. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Sting." Rogue interjected. "You can't be expected to be the best master this guild has ever seen on your first try."

"I suppose." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey (y/n), do you want to come with me and go over all the library books today? I know if we can just sort through everything we have we can find a lot of good stuff about almost everything magic." Yukino had been wanting to do that for a while now. Jiemma never cared for books and the only reason this guild even had a library is because of Minerva. Although even she rarely visited it so it had been left to the dust mites for years. Clearing it of the cobwebs would entice more people to go visit, especially the newcomers they'd brought in recently. Plus the library could prove useful to them yet. After all they had no idea the limits of the libraries knowledge.

"Sounds great!" You agreed.

"While you girls do that I have to report to a New Master's Meeting." Sting said standing up. "See ya later (y/n), Yuks!" He winked at Yukino who smiled and waved a goodbye.

"I hope we can get to know each other better now." Rogue offered extending a hand of gratitude. You took his hand gratefully and smiled bright. "C'mon Forsch, Sting will probably need us to help him sort out all this new master business."

"Fro thinks so, too!" The little exceed happily announced as he hopped down from the table and followed Rogue, Lector and Sting out of the guild.

Yukino led the way to the library. When she slammed the door hard behind you, you knew something was up.

"What?!" You decided to ask, cutting right to the chase.

"You stayed here for the night again didn't you?" She puffed up her cheeks angrily, lecturing you with a wagging finger.

You heaved a sigh. "So…"

"So?!" She mimicked. "(y/n) I offered you a bed at my place! I have enough room, you don't have to sleep like you're homeless!"

"Don't worry about me okay. I'll be fine. I just need to take on a few extra jobs until I can earn enough for an apartment." Yukino didn't look convinced. "Look, I don't mind spending the nights here, besides you shouldn't have to bother yourself with me." You busied yourself with dusting off books to hide your uncertainty.

"It's no bother at all. I'd love to have you. You are my best friend after all." She laid a reassuring hand on your shoulder.

"Thanks." You gave her a confident smile, hoping it looked better than you felt, and leant in for a hug.

You wasted no more time talking about it and switched Yukino's attention to the books all around them. The library was nothing to scoff at, with long rows of books of different genres, all placed wrongly. In the middle of four walls of cherry red bookshelves were three matching tables and comfy chairs for reading. A few extra rows of bookshelves were placed to the side of the tables, which is where you and Yukino started looking. You both worked through the library with a fine toothed comb, grabbing books from the shelves, dusting them off and placing them in their rightful order.

In the middle of your work Yukino decided to press on another touchy subject for you. "Well, are you any closer to confessing to Sting?"

You dropped the book you were holding and with an exasperated expression turned your head slowly the other way. Actually you didn't think you could ever muster up the courage to tell Sting how you felt, courage wasn't your strong suit. "Ehhh…" You drew out your words trying to tell her no without making it sound like you were a coward. "I don't think it's the right time. I need to worry about other things, like finding my next job." It was a feeble excuse but it was all you had.

Yukino came up behind you with those adorable eyes. "You don't really think that do you?" She asked her voice filled with sympathy. You didn't answer her, just continued dusting off books. "What better time to tell him than now? It's not like Jiemma is here to refuse any in-guild relationships anymore."

You knew she was right but your heart would not be able to take it when he said no, somehow simply fearing rejection had turned into knowledge of rejection. "What does it matter!? He's only going to say no!" You gave up trying to avoid the subject.

"You don't know that. Sting is caring, he's a good guy and above everything wants the best for his guild members."

"That doesn't mean he'll say yes!"

"It's a better chance of him not saying no!" She argued, completely forgetting about their task to clean out the library.

You sat down at one of the chairs, rubbing your temples to get rid of the oncoming headache. They'd started to become more frequent since your family disowned you. "I don't want a relationship with him where he only dates me out of pity. There's no relationship if the feeling isn't mutual."

Yukino looked sad for your sake. If there was one thing she was good at, it was thinking of others before herself. "You should just explain your feelings to him, even if he doesn't feel the same, he'll understand."

"How? I'll sound like a complete fool!"

Yukino wasn't afraid to be harsh when she needed to, which always surprised you because she was such a gentle soul. But now she forced your eyes to meet and firmly said. "Sting is trying to rebuild Sabertooth into a guild that cherishes its members as comrades. It wouldn't be very trusting of you to fail and see how a comrade will understand your feelings and find a way to build a good relationship no matter what! Sabertooth isn't the same as what it used to be. We have achieved milestones with having Sting as our Guild Master and I know nothing would make him happier except a trusting conversation with you."

Somehow Yukino always knew the right words to say. You didn't know how she did it when anytime you tried to speak it ended up sounding like a childish inappropriate comment.

You sighed again knowing she was right. "You're right, Yukino...I just don't know if I have the courage."

"I believe you'll find it eventually." She smiled sweetly, her rosy cheeks only adding to the beautiful glow of her skin and silver hair with her blue flower pin. You understood why Sting had eyes for her, she was beautiful, with a body to make any man swoon and a great personality to match. The only thing Yukino lacked was the ability to see that Sting loved her and not you.

You only hoped that you could find the courage to confess to Sting before things got complicated between Yukino and you. If Sting asked Yukino out first then you'd lose your chance, and you didn't know how Yukino would react if he asked out her and not you. Would she say yes and admit her obvious mutual feeling of love for him or would she say no for the sake of her best friend who had little chance at ever becoming Sting's girlfriend?

_Man, relationship stuff really sucks…_ You concluded as you and Yukino turned back to your work with the library.

At the end of the day you had sorted out the library so that it didn't look neglected anymore and was ready to be used by any new members they found that would join their guild. You both decided it was time to call it a day when you noticed the moon rising.

Sting and Rogue fell into the chairs in their living room with great sighs after coming home from the New Masters Meeting. It had been longer than Sting thought it would be, and he doubted he took it all in, thankfully Rogue had been there to help him recap everything that was said. After it all, Sting just didn't know if he had what it took to be master of Sabertooth. Rogue noticed his change in attitude.

"What are you thinking?" He asked, always knowing Sting better than Sting knew himself, it was the same way around too. Sting also shared a knowledge of who Rogue was better than anyone. Together they could nearly read each other's thoughts and that made them the greatest team in Sabertooth.

As much as Rogue was Sting's best friend he didn't feel like confiding with him for every trouble he had as new master. Sting was the master of Sabertooth, not Rogue, so he shouldn't have to share this burden with him. "It doesn't matter." He waved a hand in the air emphasizing its unimportance as he stood up to make some dinner.

Sting rummaged through the pantries for quick easy-make meals, when that failed he checked the fridge, only to find some leftover take out noodles. Sting made a mental note to get more food by the weeks end and began to reheat the noodles.

When he came back, warmed noodles in hand, he found Rogue on the ground with Frosch and Lector. Each one of them holding a clump of stitched cloth. Rogue was making another frog suit for Frosch, and teaching Lector how to do the same. Sting hadn't been noticed coming back into the room so he quietly left to get a camera.

Rogue was sitting on the floor with Frosch, who was holding up a ball of yarn, his hair had been pinned back and his sleeves rolled up so they didn't interfere with his work. It was such a rare sight to see Rogue so exposed, without his usual black Sabertooth cloak on. Just him relaxing in casual clothes while he sewed a new frog suit for his best friend. Sting quickly positioned himself in the best spot to capture the whole scene. He angled it so it was sure to catch the pictures that Frosch must have drawn that were laying on the ground. In the background were colorful crudely drawn pictures of Rogue and Frosch on a rainbow with the sun in the air and hearts around them while Rogue looked in his element stitching together a blue frog suit. It was quite a sight to see and Sting was giddy with excitement when he caught it.

Unfortunately the click of the lens as the shutter went down alerted Rogue to Sting's presence. Sting was still clicking pictures when Rogue came after him, his face red with embarrassment. Sting proudly held the picture that was just printed from the camera, up and away from Rogue who tried to grab it from his hands with a loud protest.

"STING!" He shouted, Frosch laughed as his partners cheeks grew redder.

"I'm sure Gajeel would be really proud of you, Rogue!" He smirked proudly and evilly all the time keeping the picture away from Rogue. "Making frog suits with Frosch! How adorable!"

"That's a private moment don't you dare show anyone! Especially Gajeel-san!"

Sting threw his head back with laughter. "Why not? Everyone would love to see it!"

"You show anyone that picture and I'll spill on all those years you dyed your hair pink to look like Natsu!"

Sting froze and so did Rogue knowing he'd caught him. "You wouldn't!"

"Two can play at this game, Sting." Rogue called, the red gone from his cheeks replaced by mischievous eyes.

"Fro thinks so, too!" Came a tiny voice from below.

"Heh heh heh, this is gold!" Lector proclaimed, then picking up the camera Sting had dropped, snapped a picture of Rogue and Sting in close proximity. He grabbed the picture as it printed. Anyone who was out of context would have thought the close proximity mixed with the nervous faces of the two dragon slayers would mean they were forlorn lovers. Lector knew full well the ammo he'd just armed himself with and flew around the rest of the house, keeping the picture away from both dragon slayers.

The night was filled with embarrassing moments for all as the pranks continued. In the end all the evidence of those embarrassing moments was destroyed, all except two. Lector had run off with the picture of Rogue sewing that frog suit and the picture of Sting and Rogue standing too close for comfort. Neither dragon slayer had any idea where Lector had hidden it. They had to give up the chase though when Lector wouldn't crack about where he'd hidden the pictures.

In the end both dragon slayers passed out when they hit their pillows at midnight.

The next day proved to be more active. Instead of being locked in a stuffy room full of dusty books Yukino invited you to go out on a job with her. The way she asked was finding you early in the morning, ripping the blanket off you and declaring; "Rise and shine, (y/n)! You're going on a job with me!"

"What-?!" You sat up in bed slightly disturbed, still not processing your surroundings.

"I found a job thats perfect for your type of magic! And I want to help you do it!" She positioned herself on top of you, legs on either side of your body and her breasts hanging down a little too close for this to look like anything but lovers in bed.

"What are you talking about?"

Yukino put on a serious look and held up a poster from the bulletin board in the main hall. "This poster calls for a (m/t) wizard" **(In case it's a little vague this; (m/t), is meant to mean magic type, since this is a reader insert fic I wanted to give it something more personal by letting the readers choose their own type of magic.) **"and _you_ would be the perfect fit!" She finished with a smile.

You grunted and pushed her off you as you sat up. "Alright I'll go, but did you have to jump on me?"

Yukino giggled. "Yup! Now hurry up, we gotta leave early." She announced leaving you alone.

When you walked out into the main hall of the guild you see Yukino standing, dressed in her usual white dress and cloak but beside her is-...

"Master? Rogue?" You ask questioning the tall dragon slayers next to your friend.

Sting gave you a confident smile. "We heard from Yukino you were going out on a mission and we wanted to help. Oh and you can drop the master stuff." He said, his beaming blue eyes proving to be everything distracting.

You thought you were going to swoon. Going on a mission with Sting?! This was way beyond your parameters for a normal mission. But you couldn't afford to blow it, looking like an idiot in front of Sting would ruin your chances to getting close to him.

You hung your head shyly. feeling your face flush but not wanting to show it, you stammered. "I-I'm honored."

Sting and Rogue took the lead and began the walk out of town. You followed into step beside Yukino.

She leaned in and whispered in your ear. "Are you okay?"

You still had your head hung and in no set of mind to answer Yukino's question. You had no idea if you were okay. On one hand you finally got a chance to get close to Sting after admiring him for so many years but that also came with the risk of blowing it all sky high. The last thing you wanted to do was look incompetent in front of your crush.

You kept quiet, biting your lip to stop any wrong words from spilling out.

The sun was still rising by the time you all got to the train. It was going to be an hour ride from here to Canale, the city where the job had come from. As you all boarded the train Yukino brought out the job posting to go over details.

Sting and Rogue didn't last long though because the minute the train started moving was the minute both dragon slayers turned green. Yukino turned to them. "Oh, sorry. I almost forgot about your motion sickness…" She looked at them apologetically.

The twin dragons both had on faces of extreme discomfort. They couldn't reply because they were too busy leaning out the open window.

"You know I've always wondered something." You began looking between Yukino, Sting and Rogue. "Why do dragon slayers get motion sickness. All the dragon slayers in Fairy Tail, except one, have the same problem. Why is that?"

"Hell if I know!" Sting answered, hurling one more time out the window of the train. "But it's a pain in the ass." He grimaced, falling back into his seat still holding his stomach.

It was a long train ride, or at least it felt long with the dragon slayers constantly losing their lunch and Yukino explaining to you the details of the job.

In short a wealthy nobleman in Canale needed your magic type to take down local bandits that had been stealing his companies shipments. The reason he called specifically for a (m/t) wizard is because it's the only magic type that seems to have any effect on the bandit leader. The client had tried calling the aid of the magical guard around the city, and even the police but no one they sent came back. Thats when, Mr. Sohta, the wealthy nobleman and business owner of the blimp company in Canale put out job postings in a variety of guilds, asking for the aid of wizards in a class above the average hired thug.

Seeing everything written down on paper made it sound deceptively easy. In theory you should be able to take care of any unruly bandits but the request for a wizard of your skills and the information that no hired muscle had come back alerted you. Most likely it wouldn't be that easy to take the bandits down. But with the Twin Dragons on your side how could you lose?

The end of the train ride couldn't have come faster for Sting. When he felt the train stop he had to fight Rogue to be the first one off. Which failed miserably of course. Both dragon slayers pushed each against each other blocking the doorway for all members aboard the train until eventually they both slipped, ending up face first on the pavement. Yukino and (y/n) stepped off with a great deal more grace than Sting or Rogue had. The exceeds jumped off happily landing beside their partners.

"I hate trains…" Rogue mumbled miserably.

"Fro thinks so, too." Rogue patted his exceeds head before standing up, some of the color returning to his face.

Sting and Rogue recovered quickly and before too long Sting was proudly parading through the streets eager to get the job started. You were content with staying behind beside Yukino. You ran through a dozen different scenarios of how you could confess to Sting and each of them sounded stupid and ended badly.

You were starting to think it was useless to say anything, so you focused on the mission. Canale was beautiful, lots of streets filled with busy people enjoying the nice summer day. There were shops and vendor stands to match the multitude of people. But it didn't feel crowded, the city was so big you were sure you would get lost if Yukino wasn't looking at the map you bought.

You walked around another block corner and suddenly Yukino announced that you had finally arrived to where Mr. Sohta said he'd be. You started looking around. Mostly townhouses covered this block and there were less people but you didn't see Mr. Sohta.

"Are you sure it's here, Yukino?"

"Yes."

Sting turned around, confused. "Then where's Mr. Sohta?"

"Actually, I think he's in there." Yukino said pointing to a spot beyond Sting and Rogue. You and Sting followed her finger all the way down the street to a large building complex. The building was bigger than any other in this city and you had no idea how you had missed it. About twenty stories high, all windows, and curving to the left with expert architecture skills and sporting a flat top which a large blimp sat atop. Ten stories up sat a large sign, with cursive like letters saying; Sohta's Blimp Industries.

Everyone just sort of stared for a moment taking in the sight. This must have been the blimp business Mr. Sohta had mentioned on the job posting. It was surprising, the way he talked about his company you hadn't expect it to be so successful.

After taking it in you took the first steps towards the building, the rest following you. When you reached the door to the building it looked even more impressive. Inside was balconies leading to all the other floors, leaving space for miniature blimps to fly from floor to floor, some carrying letters, others fully electronic with computerized words flashing across a big screen.

The receptionist at the desk informed you Mr. Sohta was on the roof waiting for your arrival.

Yukino thanked the receptionist and you both got into the elevators waiting for the dragon slayers to join you.

"Aren't you coming, Rogue, Master?" You asked.

They both had uneasy smiles on, Sting scratched the back of his head while he said; "I think we're just gonna take the stairs." Before either you or Yukino could utter a word they took off for the stairs leaving their exceeds to run after them.

You and Yukino shared a shrug and continued to the top floor. When the elevator finally beeped indicating the roof you stepped out. Much to your surprise Sting and Rogue were waiting for you with Mr. Sohta. Lector and Frosch were passed out beside the dragon slayers both panting heavily.

"How did you get here faster than us?" You asked.

Sting showed you a toothy smile then; "Taking the stairs is much easier for us."

"Speak for yourself…" An exhausted Lector said through his pants.

"Ah yes, yes good, everyones here then!" Mr. Sohta spoke. Like his picture suggested he had sideburns joining into a full beard with a round jolly belly, reminding you of a certain holiday figure told to children. He wore suspenders over his white shirt and red tie. Mr. Sohta walked over to the blimp that was parked on the roof, it was hovering, tied down by only ropes. "As you know bandits have been robbing me of my shipments. I've tried everything I can think of to get rid of them, that is except constructing a super weapon on my blimps or something like that." Mr. Sohta laughed loudly like he expected the same from the rest of you but got nothing. He cleared his throat. "Well, that would be not very good for business so," His confidence came back and he made a big show of pointing to the group of mages in front of him. "I want _you_ to make sure my blimp makes it safely to Magnolia! If those bandits can see that I have the means to get rid of them then I'm sure they won't bother me again."

Suddenly Sting looked uneasy again. He laughed weakly. "That sounds like a job for you two!" He turned to you and Yukino then tried to walk away only to be caught in the collar by Rogue.

"You can't skip out on a job because of your motion sickness. Mr. Sohta requires these bandits taken care of so we will honor him by doing so. You wouldn't want to tarnish Sabertooth's reputation?"

Sting's expression fell, he sighed "You're right...Okay then. Don't worry Mr. Sohta we will take care of the bandits and make sure your cargo gets to Magnolia safely." He shook hands with a very excited Mr. Sohta and hesitantly trudged onto the blimp.

An hour later, you were in the air and halfway to Magnolia but still there was no sign of the bandits.

"Poor Rogue and Sting." Yukino said referring to the dragon slayers that were curled up trying to keep from puking. "I wish there was a way to cure their motion sickness."

"Fro wishes that, too." Frosch exclaimed as he carried a bucket and a wet cloth to Rogue and Sting.

"I wish these bandits would attack already." You spoke your thoughts. "It's been forty minutes since we were in the air and no sign of them. It kinda makes me uneasy."

"Do you think they knew we were coming?" Yukino asked.

"I don't see how they would. Unless the bandits are getting insider information."

"You're not suggesting-?"

"That maybe one of Mr. Sohta's employees is in line with the bandits? It's possible, that could be why they always seem to know where the blimps are going and coming from and able to intercept them."

"Uhhm. Master, I think you need to see this!" Lector called from his spot by the blimps window.

Sting made an effort to walk where Lector was pointing, you and Yukino did the same. Appearing on the horizon was what looked to be a formation of birds, until they came closer you saw what Lector saw. It was a formation of wind mages, using their magic to fly straight for the blimp. You didn't have to guess to know their leader was at the front, at his command the formation broke off into threes, circling the blimp on all sides.

"Dammit!" Sting cursed still holding his stomach. "Rogue, we need to get outside and stop-"

Before Sting could finish there came a horrible screeching of metal and a torrent of air whipped your hair around. When you moved your hair out of your face you could see now where that noise had come from. Somehow the bandits penetrated the exterior of the blimp, causing the vents to go crazy, you could hear them moving around above the passenger cart.

Although both dragon slayers had pale faces and clenched their stomachs they stood up ready for a fight, only to fall back down again each hurling.

"Yukino, lets go!" You shouted, knowing that with Sting and Rogue's motion sickness it would be hard for them to fight. Yukino and you would have to do the best you could in the dragon slayers place.

"Yes!" Yukino followed you without hesitation, bringing out her keys as you ascended the hatchway to confront the bandits.

If the vents in the passengers cart were blasting extreme air then this was a hurricane. Cables hanging from various catwalks were whipped this way and that at the mercy of the wind. You could barely see with your hair blowing in your face like this. But the bandits seemed more at home than was right.

Hovering in the middle of the interior frame of the blimp, the wind mages kept the air flowing, just barely keeping the blimp flying with their magic. You had to take them out but with that gaping hole they created they were the only thing keeping the blimp in the air. Taking them out would mean to doom yourself to a deadly crash.

What you had guessed to be the bandits leader was standing above you on one of the catwalks. "So, the coward had to hire filthy guild mages to do his work for him, huh? Pathetic. You mages can't hope to beat us. We control the skies now, and you're in the middle of a hurricane." His lips curled together in a smile that told of murders beyond counting.

Your fists clenched and you cursed under your breath. Thankfully Yukino had an idea. "Open gate of the scales! Libra!" Libra appeared, twirling in time with the air all the time keeping the scales she held upright. "Libra! We need you to keep the blimp balanced while we fight!"

"Balance must be maintained to assure victory." Libra said mysteriously, rising up to balance herself on a steel beam.

"Open gate of the fish! Pieces!" Next Yukino called on two large fish to fight with her. Pieces circled around the bandits and catwalks, intertwining themselves so it looked like two giant serpents were carrying the blimp. Yukino already looked fully concentrated on just keeping two gates open at the same time. Taking care of the bandits as quickly as possible was now of highest priority.

"You won't stop me from taking this blimp." The bandit leader said. "I already told you we own the skies! Sohta has no right to clog up our airways!"

"The skies cannot belong to one band of people alone!" Yukino's voice rang out. "I swore that what makes the skies beautiful was the freedom they hold! You can't claim to own anything that free!"

"You have no right to terrorize a good mans business like this." You added, readying your magic attacks. "People need these supplies to reach their towns, to deny them that necessity would be to sentence them to poverty."

The bandit leader didn't look ruffled, instead he chuckled. "Then so be it. We are taking this blimp. And you will be sorry you stepped foot on it."

Yukino was about to order Pieces to attack when two more bandits entered from the hole in the blimp, the wind mages quickly engaged Pieces in a battle, leaving the leader open to your attacks.

The wind mage had a tornado of air keeping him aloft inside the blimp, one blast from your magic cut through his wind cushion though. He fell to the ground, breaking his fall with a blast of air before facing you.

You engaged the bandit leader. Using your magic to break through his wind barriers easily. But the leader was strong and more than once he landed a good hit on you, throwing you into the rounded canvas that was the wall.

It didn't take long for Pieces to be sent back to the spirit world, leaving Yukino no other choice but to dodge the attacks aimed at her. Libra had to break her focus on balance and take on the bandits that were after Yukino. You wanted to help her but the leader blasted you into a steel beam, making you lose your breath.

You tried to stand up in time but the leader took you by the throat. He held you over the ground in a choking hold.

Your feet kicked out for any hope of finding something to stand on but the leader was now rising in the air with you. He held you far away from any kind of platform and at a height that made you sick when you glanced down at all the steel and iron beams that you would most likely hit on your way down.

You were losing air fast and didn't know how long you could hold out. The bandit leader decided to test that as he ordered his wind mages to break from the formation circling air around the inside just long enough to attack you with a powerful wind attack, one by one.

Each attack aimed at you took your breath away, unable to even get a second to regain yourself the bandits easily overtook you. Soon enough you had gone limp, unable to move your body out of pain and unable to take in a proper breath.

The leader laughed when he felt you go limp. "Had enough?" He asked but didn't wait for an answer as he threw you to the ground sending an extra blast of air to hurry you on your way down.

A cry escaped your lips, the only thing you could do was scream, as the wind rushed ever faster past you. Soon you would hit the steel frame of the blimp and when that happened you highly doubted it would be anything less than deadly.

Suddenly your cry was cut off as something slammed into you. In the confusion you felt arms wrap around your body. The two bodies descended, landing with a lessened force because of the interruption of your momentum. You looked up when you hit the ground.

Your throat was dry and you could barely speak but you managed to choke out; "M-master?"

Sting looked down at you, his face serious. He was still pale and you guessed he was fighting his motion sickness as he said. "Sorry I took so long. Don't worry, you did great, I'll take care of them from here." He flashed you a failed confident smile, if you wanted to protest there was little you could do as you were still catching your breath. Sting stood up, turning around to face the bandits, he stumbled a bit when the blimp shook but he held his ground. "White drive!" He shouted, using the same power he displayed at the grand magic games...dragon force!

You noticed Rogue had already called upon the power of dragon force and was now using his shadow abilities to take on some of the bandits.

Something came into your field of view, a small cat holding a broken steel beam stood in place of Sting as he fought the bandits. "Don't worry, (y/n). I won't let those bandits get near!" Lector reassured you as he cheered on his dragon slayer partner. While Lector shouted support to Sting and Rogue a new body buried it's head under your arm.

You recognized the eyes of a pink frog suit. "Frosch…?" You croaked out. The poor exceed looked terrified, he was holding his ears down and shaking.

"Fro is scared of fighting." He said feebly.

You patted Frosch on the head, holding him close in your arms. "It's okay," You found your voice and reassured him. "Lector will keep us from harm." You swore Lector and Sting had the same smile as Lector turned around to face you. Frosch's shaking calmed down just a bit.

You watched Rogue and Sting fight their motion sickness at the same time they fought the bandits. Yukino had also run out of spirits and had to resort to dodging the bandits attacks while thinking up a new strategy. You wanted to help your friends, desperately but the wounds that bandit leader had given you were still serious. You tried to stand but doubled over instantly because of the pain.

"Good luck, Twin Dragons." You whispered. Knowing full well that the fight was up to them now.

Sting managed to keep his motion sickness at bay if he didn't stand in one place for too long. So he kept himself in motion, quite a strange way to keep motion sickness at bay but whatever works. He stayed away from the bandits attacks and sent them the occasional white dragons claw or white dragons roar.

"Wing of the white dragon!" He shouted, blasting one of the bandits out of the blimp through the gaping hole on the top. The minute he sent the bandit hurling outside the blimp it shifted position and Sting felt like he was going to hurl his lunch all over again.

Knocking a few of the bandits outside had upset the balance they provided by circling air inside the blimp. Now the whole thing was tilted down and he knew it was only a matter of time before they hit the ground. Rogue and Yukino were having a hard time holding their own, the same as him. Sting dodged another attack and landed a few meters from (y/n). She looked hurt bad, unable to even stand because of those damn bandits. Sting swore to himself they would pay for hurting one of his comrades.

He launched himself off the ground again and attacked the bandits with all the strength he had left. Rogue caught sight of Sting's renewed vigor and did the same. Together the twin dragons began their counter attack and had wiped out the all the bandits except one.

The leader lay on his hands and knees, he knew that he'd been beat even before Sting and Rogue joined Yukino in front of him.

"You won't bother the shipments coming this way anymore." Sting said, a dark aura resonating from him in waves. "You are going to answer for your crimes and for hurting my friend." The bandit leader looked up just in time to see Sting throw him another kick. The kick had enough force to knock him flat on his face, unconscious.

The bandits had been taken care of but the blimp was now at a dangerous angle. All the air the was kept circling around the interior was now being sucked out of the hole those bandits had opened up.

Sting was about to shout a plan of action when the blimp hit something hard. Suddenly the blimp veered to the right. A sharp rock protrusion penetrated the canvas of the blimp, with that much damage all hopes of fixing the holes to keep the blimp aloft were blown out the window, quite literally.

Sting noticed that where the rock had torn into the blimp was where he had left (y/n) after saving her from that fall. The scream that came next voiced his fears.

It was hard enough to stand but saving (y/n) would prove to be a larger challenge. Unfortunately Sting's motion sickness chose the worst time to hit full force. But he had to hurry if he was going to stop (y/n) from falling out of the new huge tear in the blimp.

"(Y/N)!" Sting shouted as he tripped over himself trying to reach her.

You swore this was how you were going to die and with a frightened heart you realized you still had a tight grip on Frosch bringing the crying exceed down with you. You had no idea where Lector was but as the force of the wind knocked you off your feet it didn't matter. There was nothing you could do to save Lector if you were already falling to your death.

Frosch tightened his grip on you and somehow you managed to hold on to the very fragile ripped canvas. Thankfully Frosch's grip on you kept him from falling off because you had to use both hands to hold on and dodge the mountain side closing in behind you.

If only you could pull yourself up but that was unlikely with these injuries. You didn't think you'd last that long anyway because the canvas was ripping even more, threatening to detach from the blimp permanently.

"(y/n)!" You heard a familiar voice calling. "Hang in there!" Sting was perched dangerously close to the edge, reaching out his hand to grab yours.

Pushing past what your muscles would let you do, you used a mammoth effort to reach up to Sting's hand. But the canvas ripped more and you were farther away from Stings grasp. There was no way you could reach him now, you were too far away and your strength was failing.

"Master!" You yelled into the rushing air as the canvas broke and you began your descend, a poor undeserving exceed clinging to your chest.

Before the wind could take you, you felt a tug on your wrist and you stopped falling. You looked up to see what had stopped you from falling as you feet dangled over the ever growing ground. Sting had jumped off the blimp and now had a firm grip on the blimps steel frame his other hand holding onto you.

You felt tears burn the back of your eyes. You couldn't stop a few tears from falling as you saw how Sting was struggling. His face turned green looking ready to vomit but his face had the determination that you had only seen on the Fairy Tail wizards during the GMG.

"I won't let you fall!" He shouted, his words barely reaching you. You moved your hand up and grabbed his wrist securing a stronger hold on him. More tears fell as you saw Rogue and Yukino struggling to pull both of you up.

Meanwhile the mountainside had been getting closer every second and soon the blimp would crash. You surveyed the landscape getting closer to you and had an idea.

"Master Eucliffe!" You called getting Sting's attention. "Let me go!"

Sting's face went white as snow. "No! I won't let you fall!" He shouted back full of determination.

"Frosch!" Rogue called when he heard your plan of action.

"We'll be fine, I promise! Just let me go!" You insisted releasing your grip on Sting's wrist, his hold the only thing keeping you from falling.

"No!" He continued to refuse but your hands had grown sweaty and he was losing his grip on you.

The ground was coming closer and it wasn't long before you hit the ground, time was running out. Despite Sting's best efforts you fell from his hands. When you felt weightlessness you held tight onto the small exceed still clinging to you, bent your knees and braced for impact.

**AN: Since this is my first reader insert fic I'm really curious as to how I did. Leave a comment to let me know what I could improve on and such. Also let me know if you want me to continue this. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: The next chapter! Boom baby! Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Fairy Tail! Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima. **

You hit the ground rolling, scraping up your body even more than before. When you finally stopped you couldn't move. You just lay there while Frosch squirmed trying to get away from your strong grip.

You mentally assessed the damage that was done to you. Nothing felt broken but you certainly had a sprained everything! It felt like every muscle in your body had been torn, which for all you know it could have. Meanwhile Frosch was beginning to panic, he had freed himself but now he was pushing on you yelling for you to wake up.

"(y/n). (y/n)! Wake up!" You heard him sniffle, he seemed to be losing hope you would awaken.

You forced your eyes open so Frosch wouldn't have to be alone. When he saw you stir he dried his tears and perked up. You pushed yourself into a sitting position, still very much hurt and unsure if you could walk. You patted Frosch on the head, hoping to reassure him.

He responded by throwing himself into a hug with you, sniffling all over again. "It's okay, Frosch. It'll be okay." You croaked out, your voice hoarse and your throat dry.

After a while his sniffles died down and he said; "Fro thinks so, too."

You raised his head to your eyes and wiped away his tears with your dirt coated fingers. Suddenly an awful noise filled your ears. It sounded like metal screeching and bending as you watched the blimp go down inside Magnolia.

It wasn't too far, and you should have been able to make it before it started to get dark but being injured came with setbacks. You could only hope that the crash wasn't as bad as it sounded. Your mind went straight to Sting, Yukino, Lector and Rogue and if they were okay. You sure hoped so, if not for the sake of seeing them again for Frosch's sake. You knew the exceed well and wasn't sure if he could move on without Rogue. You shook your head of such horrid thoughts, if you wanted to get back to them you'd have to hurry, god knows if your friends were okay they'd be wondering the same of you.

"What do ya say we get back to our friends? There probably worried for us." You asked Frosch, giving him your best confident smile.

"Fro think so, too!" Even though Frosch was injured same as you he stood up, immediately ready for more. Both of you could probably use a good shower right about now.

You took in the state of your hands, the skin had been peeled off like elmers glue in most places, that left them feeling very fragile. Some parts, like where skin had hit the ground, were bleeding badly, your legs seemed to be in the same condition. A headache advanced on you at the same time you felt your left eye swell up leaving you half blind. But the bruises on your body would have to wait. Getting to safety was the only thing that mattered to you. You raised your battered-self off the ground and stumbled the first few steps towards Magnolia and the crashed blimp. You wondered if crashing the blimp into the city counted as delivering Mr. Sohta's goods to Magnolia safely?

Sting removed the steel beam that had crashed down on top of him and stood up. He had hit the ground hard when the blimp crashed, he could still stand though, that was always a good sign. It looked like the blimp had crashed between two rooftops in Magnolia, the passenger cart hung precariously over the alleyway between the buildings. Meanwhile the wind blew around pieces of the ripped canvas carrying them to be gone with the wind.

Sting looked around the destroyed steel frame on the inside of the blimp for Rogue, Yukino and Lector.

"Yukino! Rogue! Lector!" Sting called out their names, suddenly the ruined blimp looked a lot larger now than it had in the air. The inside frame had collapsed so much so that Sting doubted he could dig around in there for his friends. But he had to find them, then once he did they would go searching for (y/n) and Frosch.

"Shadow dragons roar!" Sting heard Rogue's attack come from the side of the blimp that had landed on the rooftop across from him. A tornado of debris came flying upwards with Rogue's dark energy. Never before had Sting been so happy to see that familiar dark power. He quickly ran over to as far as he could go without risking falling between the buildings. Sting knew the passenger cart hung before him, and he could see where the weight of it hanging was putting a lot of strain on the already broken canvas. Stepping on that could break it off completely and Sting would most certainly fall to his death.

"ROGUE!" Sting called getting his attention. Rogue looked pretty beat up but he managed to crawl out of the debris and stumble over to Sting, holding his shoulder the whole time. "Help me find Yukino!" He shouted across the gap separating them, Rogue nodded his understanding.

Both dragon slayers were now looking for their friends. Sting kept his eye out, in particular, for a red fur coated exceed. He called out their names again, this time receiving a grunted response from somewhere to his right.

"Lector!" His smile lit up when he saw his friend hanging by his jacket to a steel beam, groaning but alive. Sting picked Lector off his coat hanger and carried him to a safer place.

When Sting put Lector on the ground the exceed opened his eyes. "M-master…?' He managed to choke out.

"You don't have to call me that." Sting said quickly. "And don't worry. It's okay, Rogue is looking for Yukino now."

Lector seemed to regain his wits quickly and pointed to something beyond Sting. On the other side of the gap, Rogue was carrying Yukino, her arm around his shoulder.

Sting started to rack his brain for solutions to get out of this blimp and start looking for (y/n) but he didn't need to when a certain pink haired boy with a blue exceed came up to him.

Natsu was flying with Happy just outside the blimp looking in. As Natsu rose up to speak to them so did two other exceeds.

"It's the guys from Sabertooth!" He called down to someone waiting below. "Are you okay?" He turned to Sting and asked.

"Natsu-san!" Sting smiled. "We need a way down from here."

"Ah that's a piece of cake! Happy, Carla, Lily can you help?"

"Aye!"

"Of course."

"Yes!" Each exceed voiced their agreement to help and before too long the Sabertooth members were saved from the blimp as the passenger cart finally fell to the bottom of the alley, taking the rest of the blimp with it.

"That was just in time, thanks, Natsu-san!" Sting shook Natsu's hand and they exchanged smiles. Now that Sting was on the ground he could see that the pilot and co-pilot for the blimp had made it out safely. _At least no one died…_ Sting thought hopefully, then his mind switched straight back to (y/n) and his hope waned.

Wendy was busy trying to heal Yukino's wounds, while Gajeel asked the group how they ended up in a crashed blimp.

"That's a long story actually." Sting said first.

"But we don't have time for that!" Rogue interrupted. "We need to find Frosch!" He had started to storm away into the mountains when Sting stopped him.

"Hold on! We should find (y/n) and Frosch together, but first we need to get our strength back up."

Rogue had his determined eyes still set on the horizon. Sting knew how much Frosch meant to him but he wouldn't risk Rogue getting injured out there alone.

"(y/n)?" Natsu questioned the unfamiliar name.

"She's a member of our guild, and we lost her and Frosch somewhere along the flight of our crash. Last I saw her she was hurt bad. We should find her and Frosch as soon as possible."

"We'll find your friends for you." Natsu assured them with a face splitting grin.

"Meanwhile you should rest here and let Wendy heal you." Gajeel added.

Rogue looked about to protest but Sting stopped him before he could. "You know we can't effectively search for them if we have our own injuries. Natsu and Gajeel can find them."

Rogue took in Sting's words and his look turned sour. He didn't protest and he didn't make a move. They watched Natsu and Gajeel run with their exceeds into the mountains outside Magnolia.

Magnolia may have been close, but it didn't feel that way. More than once you fell flat on your face. All the time Frosch grew more worried, he didn't voice his opinion but you could see it on his face.

He doubted you could make it all the way, and frankly so did you. You struggled onwards, every glance you took up at the city made it seem farther away than before. by the time the sun began to set you hadn't closed any significant distance between you and Magnolia. To make matters worse rain clouds had gathered overhead and now unleashed their downpour.

"Fro doesn't like rain." Frosch said sadly.

"I don't either… C'mon we should get under some shelter." You lead Frosch away under a cliff overhang that caught your eye.

The exceed ended up having to sit in your lap because the overhang turned out to be quite small. You let your head rest against the rock wall. That headache from before pounded mercilessly and you winced in pain.

You only closed your eyes for a second but a second was all you needed to drift off into sleep.

"Hey, Salamander? Did ya spot them yet?" Gajeel called. They were still searching the mountain side and he feared they were no closer to finding that frog and the Sabertooth girl.

Natsu landed in front of Gajeel, he and Happy had been scouting the area from the air but the look on his face proved nothing good. "Dammit, we didn't see anyone anywhere!"

Gajeel pondered their situation. The sun was going down soon and still they were no closer to finding that member of Sabertooth Sting and Rogue told them about.

"And I can't smell anything through this damn rain."

"We should go back," Lily spoke up procuring everyones attention. "regroup and organize a proper search party. If all of Fairy Tail splits up into teams we will be able to cover more ground."

Natsu looked to the horizon before answering. Sure the dragon slayers may not know this missing person but they were important to Sabertooth. And after the GMG relations with Sabertooth had improved dramatically. Plus Gajeel knew the Salamander wouldn't feel right if they didn't find this girl, he wouldn't either. She was a friend of friends and not only her life was at stake but Frosch's as well.

"Lily's right." Gajeel confirmed. "We'll have a better chance of finding her with more people searching."

"You go back to Fairy Tail. I'll stay and keep looking!" Natsu flashed Gajeel a confident, determined look. He couldn't argue, if Salamander wanted to keep looking there was nothing he could do to stop that thick headed nitwit.

Gajeel shrugged. "Whatever, just don't get lost yourself."

Natsu gave him a nod; "Happy, let's go!"

"Aye, sir!"

They took off to the skies again, meanwhile Lily and Gajeel ran for Fairy Tail.

"You didn't find them!? Then why are you back here you should still be searching!" Rogue gave Gajeel a stern yelling the minute he came back to the guild empty handed.

"Listen you wanna start a fight, keep talking. But you wanna find yer friends, then help us get a search party going." Gajeel and Rogue but heads each one looking menacingly into the other's eyes.

"Stop! Please don't fight!" Yukino shouted coming between the two dragon slayers. "Fighting won't solve anything. We should help Gajeel-san find them."

Sting watched as Yukino tried to calm the situation. He sighed, wondering if they could ever find (y/n) and Frosch. Guilt weighed heavy on Sting's conscious. _Maybe if I'd held on...Maybe if I had saved her sooner…_

It seemed the She-Demon noticed his doubts. "Don't worry, Master Sting." She said coming up behind him a drink tray in hand. "The sooner we can get more people searching the sooner we can find them." She smiled at him, a smile he didn't return.

"Alright, listen up you brats!" Markorov jumped onto the bar shouting to get everyone's attention. "Sabertooth is missing two of their members so we're going to help find them! Gray, Juvia, Cana and Warren you search the outer rim of the town. Elfman, Mirajane, Lisanna search the west mountainside. Gajeel, Levy, Jet and Droy will search to the east. Raijinshuu will search the south side." Markorov finished his speech, Fairy Tail gathered into it's teams and dispersed, full of energy.

Sting met up with Markorov as he jumped down from the table talking to the remaining Fairy Tail members to keep an ear out for Warren's telepathy. "Master! Master Markorov!" He called. Markorov turned around. "I want to help look for my teammates, I can be useful when searching too I know the general area where (y/n) and Frosch fell from the blimp!"

"You are still injured, so are your friends. Are you sure you want to search?"

"Yes." Sting straightened his back, his confidence returning.

"We'll help you look too." Yukino, Rogue and Lector walked to Sting's side.

Markorov smiled. "You've grown up a lot, Sting." He said, his back already turned as he continued talking. "Who am I to stop you from saving your friends."

The Sabertooth team was filled with a new hope that not even the rain could dampen as they ran out of the guild straight for the search parties that were sent out.

Half asleep you felt Frosch stir in your lap. You heard him say something to you but you were still trying to wake up completely. You could half hear Frosch growing more anxious but you were trapped in sleep and it wouldn't let go.

You fell into the nightmare that had plagued your dreams for weeks before. Once again you were back in the family home. Expensive looking vases filled the hallway, the once lavishly decorated carpets had turned black, your home had been reduced to something you barely recognized. You turned around to see every wall light being snuffed out one by one, darkness travelled down the hallway like a disease.

You had no idea what the darkness held but you knew it wasn't good. Three blood red circles cut through the dark approaching you. You would have guessed they were eyes except they started to rotate. Faster and faster until you were watching a blood ring, shrouded in darkness advance on you.

Fear choked out your words like a guillotine. Uncertainty took hold and rested your feet in place. The black wall grew closer still, finally until it was almost upon you, instinct kicked in and you took off down the hallway. You could see at the other end of the hallway was the entrance to the main foyer but would you be able to get there fast enough to escape the suffocating pitch behind you?

Your breaths came hard and labored, the more you ran the more exhausted you felt. Your injuries had followed you to the dream world and you tripped into the main foyer just in time for the black to swallow the hallway.

You hastily closed the door and the danger seemed to recede. But you had just jumped right into the fire. The main foyer might have been safe from the darkness and those red circles but it wasn't safe from your father's wrath.

All your life you've known he was a bit more hot headed than others. But he had proved just how ill-tempered he can be the night you chose Sabertooth over your wealthy family name and heritage.

Now standing before you was the same man you had seen that night. Large forehead popping with anger, his red beard fiery enough to match his furious eyes. He held his beefy arms crossed over his chest, glasses reflecting moonlight like lasers. He barely spoke, and he didn't need to. His posture alone was enough to make you cringe.

"You dare reject the (l/n) household! You have made a fool of yourself (y/n)! This family has cared for you because you were one of our own. I see now we made a terrible mistake." He drew in closer to your huddled form on the ground. Making it blatantly clear the way he pulled down his glasses how much he hated you. "You are no (l/n). You are an outcast! A mistake! A failure!" Suddenly his hand conjured into a whip. It cracked down on you once for every insult he hurled your way. The whip broke skin, broke bones and shattered your heart. You felt his words crack your shell of a heart a little each second, the whip was simply the driving force that finished the job.

It all left you broken and sobbing on the family floor, soaked in your own blood. You took one last look at the man who had raised you. "Father…" You choked out trying to reach your hand to his but he backed away.

"I'm not you father, anymore…"

"NOOO!" You flew upwards startled by your own cry for help. Sweat beaded off your skin, making the bed sheets cling to your body. You hair was a tangled mess as it came down in front of your eyes, cutting off your sight so you couldn't see where you were.

Slowly your mind began to work again, it moved on from the nightmare and you realized you were somewhere else now. Not the rocky outcropping you and Frosch had used to hide from the rain.

"(y/n)!" A door opened and you heard your name called. The voice sounded worried but you didn't process it completely until it was by your bedside asking if you were alright. A hand pushed back the hair that covered your face. When the curtain of hair was gone the room lit up and you could see you were in some kind of infirmary. Sting was right by your bedside his mouth twisted in concern.

You glanced to your guild's master and suddenly found your voice. "Hey, Master." You chuckled, the news finally sinking in that you were safe and not trapped in that nightmare.

Sting looked a little happier after you responded. "You know…" He started his cheeks beginning to flush. "I don't really like 'Master'. Sting is fine." He smiled sweetly and you swore your heart was going to pound out of your chest.

_Dammit! Why do you have to be so cute!?_

By the time you made it all the way back to Sabertooth you had gone through, more unwanted nightmares, a slow healing process and the scolding of Mr. Sohta for destroying not only his goods but his prized blimp as well.

"We did take care of the bandits for you." Sting reminded the seething business owner. In the end you all got off on a stern talking to and 1,000 Jewel each. You wouldn't have been surprised if mr. Sohta had refused to pay you after the damage you did to his blimp. But he stayed true to his word when he promised a reward, of course knowing the trouble those bandits caused you helped.

Still the jewel was barely enough for dinner. You sighed as you walked down the streets of your home town alone. You had managed to strike a bargain with one of the shopkeepers, at least that had helped you pay for tonights dinner. You would have to take another job tomorrow to earn a little more jewel.

"(y/n)!" Someone called your name. You turned around to see Yukino running to catch up with you. "What are you doing staying out so late?" She asked falling into step beside you.

"Just shopping for dinner." You answered reverting your gaze to the street ahead of you.

"Are you okay? After what happened in Magnolia you've been distant."

Yukino was right, you had been distant but not because of nearly dying after the blimp incident. No it was much more than that. Your nightmares had increased. They came back every night, always the same suffocating darkness threatening to destroy you, then there was the image of your father. It was hard enough trying to avoid the part of town where your family still resided but thanks to those nightmares you saw him around every corner.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to, but I'm okay, really." You lied offering Yukino a fake smile.

Yukino didn't look convinced, "Why don't you spend the night at my place?" You were about to protest but she but in grabbing your arm playfully. "It'll be fun, just for one night!"

Yukino's spirit lifted the edges of your mouth a little bit. "Alright, fine." You followed her to her place, still very much worried about that nightmare. Something inside you suddenly felt off, and that image of the blood red ring branded itself in your mind. Maybe you were less 'okay' then you thought?


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

Sting roared his white dragon fang attack but ended up slipping on the icy streets, the small creature getting away from him. Rogue tried his best to provide support but even though his shadow capabilities caught up to the creature it slipped out of his grasp the minute he placed his hands around it.

Even Yukino was having a hard time. She jumped on the writhing form, only to bolt back upwards in a fit of laughter because the wiggling fury cat had tickled her sweet spot. The black cat took it's chance and jumped on top of her head kicking off her face before landing gracefully back on the street.

You watched the insane antics go on with no reward for your teammates efforts. You knew the cat was just teasing them now. It could have run away thirty minutes ago but it seemed to be having fun dodging all the new creative ways Sting, Rogue and Yukino came up with to try and catch it.

When first assigned the mission you thought it would be relatively easy to catch a town members run away cat and your friends seemed more than able to handle it alone. Still as you watched every failed attempt you felt no need to step in. It was quite entertaining to see and you understood why the cat continued the charade.

The black cat strolled leisurely away from your felled friends, his white feet making indents in the frost. He came to sit by you, then turned and looked over the work he'd done this round. Sting, Rogue and Yukino were all splayed out on the cold ground, their energy quite sapped.

The cat made a point to lick his pads clean and puff his chest out proudly. "How hard can it be to catch a single cat?" You asked, petting the cat behind his ears. "You guys must not be good with animals…" The cat didn't move away as you managed to pick him up, still massaging his head. It was even purring.

Sting sat up, rubbing his bruised head. "How did you do that?!" He gestured to the happy kitty in your arms. Bringing up a finger to the cat only to have it hiss and bat his hand away with claws. Sting backed away, his expression growing dark. "That things a demon…"

Yukino and Rogue seemed just as flabbergasted as Sting. "I guess now we can return Puffin to his owners…" Yukino said quietly still looking at the purring cat in your arms curiously.

Puffin, had curled his tail around himself gleefully as you kept petting him rhythmically. The others followed you back to Puffin's home.

"How could you pick up a cat that the three of us couldn't even get our hands on?" Rogue asked out of nowhere.

You shrugged. "I don't know maybe because you attacked it?" You laughed a little remembering what had happened when Yukino had first spotted Puffin. She had exclaimed where the cat was, then Sting took it upon himself to chase it a few blocks. Rogue tried to cut off it's path, but Puffin was nimble and easily dodged him as he dived head first into the pavement. Yukino tried to lure it in with his favorite treats but he merely took the treats and scratched up her face. Everything went downhill from there.

"We were a bit forceful, I suppose." Yukino said her eyes to the ground, hands pressed to the smarting scratches on her cheek.

"Tch. It's just plain evil, thats why." Sting proclaimed, his arms crossing.

Puffin didn't try to escape again as you handed him back to his very grateful owner. When she asked where Sting, Rogue and Yukino had gotten those bruises you brushed it off. All she needed to know was that you had successfully gotten her cat back to her, she didn't need to know the process it took to get him.

"If Puffin ever runs off again you can just call us, Mrs. Doherty." You bowed to the old lady as she closed the door.

Sting held the reward money in his palm. "Hardest five hundred dollars I ever earned…"

You had to laugh again. "You have to admit though, it was pretty hilarious watching you guys." You broke out in a fit of laughter getting a dirty look from Sting.

"We should celebrate at the guild's new pool." Yukino proposed with a new happiness. Rogue nodded and smiled his agreement.

"Fro thinks so, too!" Frosch announced and began walking next to Lector, each exceed talking to each other excitedly.

You fell into step beside Rogue as Yukino and Sting struck up a conversation. You watched as each enjoyed the other's company in earnest. Again that sinking feeling lodged itself in your throat, the feeling of envy, and hopelessness. _Sting really does love her… _You wondered how long you could remain a coward, probably just long enough to watch Sting announce his love for Yukino. But, you weren't sure that you could handle that when the time came.

"You should just ask him." Rogue leaned in to whisper something to you.

"W-what?!" You asked, caught off guard.

"Ask him. Tell him how you feel. Waiting isn't going to get any easier."

You felt your face blush furiously and you hid your embarrassment under your hair, eyes focused intensely on your feet. "How did you know?"

"It wasn't that hard to see." He smiled at you, showing a side to him that he didn't normally show. "And Rufus distinctly remembers the day you admitted your crush on him all those years ago."

You blushed more, remembering as well the day you were barely old enough to be a teen, proudly announcing your undying love for Sting when one of the Sabertooth girls tried to flirt with him. You were filled with a child's false confidence those days and more often than not regretted most stupid things you had done.

"I had hoped everyone had forgotten about that." You chuckled weakly, chills crawling up your spine.

"Rufus never forgets." Rogue laughed.

After a while of silence in which you couldn't face to say anything more you finally whispered. "Does he know…?"

Rogue didn't answer immediately, you didn't know if that was a good thing or not. "...No." The words he didn't say stuck to the air like a fog. _He's too busy looking at Yukino…_

You anxiously paced by the couch that had become your sleeping quarters these past weeks. Muffled sounds of the guild came from outside the hallway door. Thinking about everything Rogue said you knew he was right. Waiting was almost becoming unbearable. _But what if he says no?_ You sighed and walked to the window opposite the hallway door.

It sure was a beautiful night out. The stars couldn't have been shining more bright. The garden, Orga had adopted when Jiemma left, was covered in a light frost but some buds were sprouting in advance to the coming spring. A large willow tree hung it's vines into the pondside, frost coating the edges of the vines and pond, freezing the lilypads in place. The garden looked frozen in time, and for all the beauty it held it might as well be.

_I have to tell him how I feel...No more hiding…_ You swore on the twinkling stars. As if to test your resolve you saw Sting walking alone in the garden. He was waiting by the willow tree, his gaze to the heavens. You cast a glance to the stars… _You couldn't wait to take up that challenge could you? _Rogue's words echoed in your head again, _Waiting isn't going to get any easier. Just tell him how you feel._ Letting out an anxiety ridden breath you tore yourself away from the window and made for the door to the garden.

_Sting, I love you...I really like you. I think we should go out…?_ You knew any scenarios of the scene where you confessed to Sting wouldn't turn out like you planned them but still your mind ran through the common ways to confess you love to someone. You walked outside and took a deep breath. You had managed to get a lot closer than you ever thought you would to Sting. After the job in Magnolia, Sting opened up to you and you allowed just a little bit of yourself to blossom in his presence, not too much you didn't want to accidentally make a fool of yourself. Who knows maybe Sting will be interested at the very least.

You swallowed your bile and rounded the corner of the guild, beyond this point Sting was waiting. Turns out you had gotten there too late...Yukino was right next to him, both eagerly chatting with a hint of flirtatious comments. You suddenly lost your nerve and ducked behind the nearest bush. You were on the ground, knees to your chest, quickly stealing glances over the bush at the two lovers.

_What am I hiding for? This is idiotic, I was almost going to do it! I still can just walk up and ask to speak to Sting alone…_ Mentally preparing yourself for the amount of guts this would require you stood up, still not having been noticed by Sting or Yukino and took the first step.

But your friends had grown quiet, and you noticed something changed in the both of them. They sat together at the pond's edge neither one speaking, only softly gazing into the others eyes. Yukino was blushing and looked surprised but Sting's face read confidence.

That moment your fragile heart shattered. If you had been crushed when your family kicked you out then this was a reopening of the wound and major pour of salt and lemon juice on it. Their faces met, turning slightly to kiss properly, lips met lips and both faces grew red with passion. Sting's hand raised to Yukino's cheek, stroking her skin. Yukino kissed back with certainty.

A few minutes had passed before you realized your lower lip was trembling, you felt water drip down your cheeks and onto your shaking hands.

When Yukino pulled away her mind seemed to flicker a few feet away and she caught sight of your tears in the moonlight. She gasped, "(Y/N!) She stood up to try and walk to you but stopped when you backed away. Sting stood up as well asking what was wrong. You shouldn't have looked up, but you did. Your eyes had been planted to the ground to hide your face but you just had to look up again. Sting not only had kissed her before you had a chance to express your feelings, but his arm was around Yukino's waist as if they were already an item.

This was stupid. There was no reason for you to be so upset, you knew Sting and Yukino loved each other and it was only your fault that you hadn't confessed your feelings sooner...but why did it hurt so much?

Another gasp escaped your lips after seeing their proximity. More tears fell and you decided it best you leave before you embarass yourself more. Meaning to walk calmly out, your feet had other ideas and ran at a brisk pace, trying to get somewhere secluded where you could be alone to cry as soon as possible. You ran past the guild, a few of your guild members walking to their homes in the night noticed you but they didn't try and stop you as you ran.

Eventually you found the park and stumbled onto the dew covered grass. On your hands and knees your jeans were being soaked from both the dew and your tears. You must have looked like a fool, crying on your hands and knees in the public park, so you picked yourself up and with shaking hands running over your shoulders you carried yourself under the shade of a tree. Some comfort in the foliage provided by privacy.

Your emotions were a jumbled mess in your heart, clouding your thoughts until you could only feel. _It's none of my business! _You told yourself, sobbing into your knees. _It's none of my damn business! Sting and Yukino deserve to be together! I shouldn't get involved!_

"Oh no…" The words escaped her lips, riding on a breath.

"What was that about?" Sting asked, confused at his teammates sudden breakdown. Yukino shook her head, her lips pulled taut.

She stayed silent for a minute then sighed and said; "Sting, (y/n), has had feelings for you for a long time…" She explained quietly as if someone would hear what was obviously a secret. "She loves you, Sting...and I bet that's why she was here." Yukino's eyes fell sadly, and in them Sting saw the guilt that weighed on her conscious.

He lifted his gaze back to the spot (y/n) used to stand. His eyes were narrowed and scrutinous.

No one spoke for quite a while. Finally the guilt weighed on Yukino's conscious and she couldn't stand the thought of her best friend crying alone, which knowing her she most likely was. "Sting, you should go talk to her."

"Me? I think that will only make her feel worse…" Yukino's sadness was contagious and his gaze dropped as well.

"No, she needs to know that you understand her feelings. Even if we start dating she'll need reassurance from both of us that nothing is held against her."

"Is that what we are?" Yukino looked up at Sting, confusion setting in. "Dating?"

He could almost feel her tense. "I don't know…" She replied, her fingers clenching.

"...I'll try to talk to her." Sting announced and with a wave he took off to where she ran to. He got directions from some of the other members of Sabertooth and eventually came to the public park.

The night was quiet, the air was still, allowing his dragon slayer hearing to easily pick up the muffled sobs coming from the edge of the park, by the forest. Sting followed her cries and showed up in front of his crying guildmate.

When you heard someone approaching you were expecting maybe Yukino, but not Sting. The very man who unintentionally broke your heart coming to comfort you wasn't exactly a healing remedy. None the less you looked up and wiped the tears away as he sat down beside you without saying a word.

You sniffed away the mucus that had built up and spoke first; "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have seen me. My silly feelings shouldn't get in the way of you and Yukino being happy." You words sounded pitiful to your own ears. _Way to sound like you feel, (y/n). _You hated sounded like you were fishing for compliments or comfort, whatever feelings you have should be your burden not anyone elses. Because after all, if you couldn't even handle your own feelings than how could you survive on your own?

Sting avoided looking at you and a bit awkwardly said, "No, I'm sorry I never knew." There was a pause, then, "And don't worry your feelings aren't silly." He sent a smile your way but you weren't able to force your face to match. Sting seemed to run out of things to say and turned his head, his cheeks beginning to blush a little. His blue eyes suddenly reflecting deep sadness.

You were about to tell him everything would be fine and he should continue a relationship with Yukino if he wanted but something stopped you. Your head clouded with emotions again and you no longer had a thought process. Needless to say you said some things you later wished you hadn't and did even worse things.

(Y/n)'s expression dropped. Sting knew he had hurt her, and with one single kiss. _Dammit man, learn to be aware of your surroundings next time!_ He had never had such strong feelings for Yukino with any girl he'd been with before but he didn't want to hurt (y/n). And he had no idea how to make her feel better. Normally he would just buy some apology flowers but (y/n) was different and she deserved more than petty materialistic comfort.

Sting drew a blank on everything. When (y/n) spoke again he was unsure he'd heard her right.

"You should have known…" Her words came out guttural and foreign to him. She stood up and suddenly towered above Sting, darkness hiding behind her stray strands of hair that fell into her face. "I made it so obvious. I hoped that maybe one day you would notice and spare me the humiliation of something like this…" Sting grew a little worried. He stood up and tried to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder or provide words of apology but she pushed him away. "Bastard…" Her fists began shaking and Sting saw where her knuckles were going white. Tears streamed down her face again, moonlight tracing it's watery path every inch of the way. He had to wonder just how much he had actually hurt her. Her words cut deep and gouged out a valley of guilt.

Without warning she swung her fist, aiming for his head. If he hadn't dodged it, she might have knocked him out. Sting ducked that one and had to dodge again, quickly, as her foot came slamming down where he had stood. He couldn't see past the darkness that seemed to emanate around her like an aura.

He may not have known (y/n) as well as he knew Rogue but he found it hard to believe she would actually attack him, no matter how much she must hate him right now. Still here he was barely dodging her ever increasing hits of rage. She blasted him with her magic showing nothing but the merciless want to kill.

Her arms swung down by her knees, as if attached to her body by only strings and her head was angled down, leaving her eyes shrouded in darkness. _Something's definitely wrong!?_ Sting realized.

"What are you doing?!" He shouted at her but was answered by a roundhouse kick to the ribs, sending him flying across the park. He landed, winded and bruised. Once again (y/n) ran up to him full force. It didn't look like she was holding anything back. Sting barely had enough time to roll away and yell, "Are you trying to kill me?" Again her answer was a missed magic attack.

Nothing he said seemed to make a difference in her emotional state. Sting started to wonder if he'd actually pissed her off that much. _Maybe she'll tire and come to her senses? _He went on the defensive, throwing his crossed arms up as he took most of her hits. His thoughts seemed futile, though, the more she attacked. Soon the park had a few felled trees, its benches destroyed and the grass torn away by feet and magic.

(Y/n) didn't look like she had gotten it out of her system. In fact she just looked more infuriated, her whole body visibly shaking. The last thing Sting wanted to do was hurt his friend but he was afraid she would hurt herself if her murderous intent to fight him went on any longer.

Sting was battered up, panting and his movements getting slow. (Y/n) still came after him with all her strength. He had to wonder what he did to make her try and kill him. This was going to get ugly if he didn't do anything. Suddenly he found himself striking a counterattack.

His hand reached up and grabbed her swinging leg then shifted her weight and threw her onto the ground. He quickly pinned her while she regained breath.

"(Y/N)! What the hell are you trying to do?! If you're that mad at me just tell me!"

Now that he could see her eyes he noticed something changed. They weren't the same (e/c) hue they had always been, now her irises were circled by an outer rim of red. The red ring in her eyes flickered the same time her expression changed to something more like sympathy. But it changed back just as quickly and the red ring grew until it almost blotted out her original eye color.

She gritted her teeth then kneed him where the sun doesn't shine, she used his temporary pain to kick him off her with her feet. Sending him flying onto his back a few yards away. Sting was still on the ground in pain when her vicious stare met with his and he barely stopped her fist as it came inches from his face.

Sting was running out of options. he couldn't see any other way to stop her attacks unless her forced her. He gritted his teeth, and went against instinct.

"White dragon's roar!" He shouted, then watched her form fly off him and land on the ground with a guilty thud. Sting sat up, thinking she was about to attack again but the night was still once more. Her stood up slowly, but she didn't budge.

Worry choked him and he ran to her side. Her eyes were closed, when he lifted the lids that red ring was gone but the memory of it left a sinking pit in his conscious. _What was that…? Did I make her that angry or is something else going on here?_

Sting didn't have the answers. The only thing he could do now was pick her up, bridal style and carry the unconscious mage back to his guild.

"Sting! What happened!?" Yukino came running up, face twisted in concern as she looked over her passed out friend. Sting didn't answer her until he set (y/n) down in the infirmary. Rose, their hired nurse and healing magic mage of Sabertooth, looked over (y/n) as Sting explained what happened to Yukino, Rogue and the exceeds.

Yukino blanched when he was done explaining. "S-She attacked you?"

Sting absentmindedly scratched the side of his cheek. "If I'd known I had pissed her off that much I wouldn't have tried to calm her down. I don't really know what happened but it didn't seem like her."

Rogue frowned, his eyes went to where she lay. Frosch had plopped himself by her bedside, watching Rose use her healing magic with anticipation. The little exceed seemed to have grown fond of her since Magnolia, Sting guessed that meant the two had bonded after falling off a blimp together.

"I don't understand how she could do that…" Yukino breathed her mind turning over the question like a penny.

"(Y/n)?" Rose's voice was heard from where she lay in bed. "How are you feeling?"

Sting heard a groan and Yukino raced past him to her best friends bed side. "(Y/n) are you okay?!"

"Ugh." She sat up groggily, rubbing her head. Rose backed out of the room, at Sting's request, when (y/n) answered. "I'm okay, I guess." Then her gaze fused onto Sting, she blushed, averting her sorrowful gaze to Yukino. "What happened?"

"You...don't remember?"

Rogue stepped forward. "We were hoping you could tell us what happened. According to Sting you attacked him until he had to knock you unconscious."

She looked positively flustered. She'd gone a pale white and her eyes went wide with, at first, confusion, then concern, and finally realization.

"I- attacked you…"

Sting turned his gaze away. "I thought I must have really pissed you off for you to try and kill me." He purposefully put his hands in his pockets trying to lessen the tension of the statement.

"I don't remember that at all…"

"What do you remember?" Yukino asked.

(Y/n)'s expression stiffened. Her lips became white and she gazed into space as if in shock. Suddenly she shook her head and shivered. "The park...and Sting." The room fell silent. Then she broke the silence again. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I never meant to do that. I don't know what possessed me to attack you but I would never want to kill you!" Her words came out a plea for understanding.

Sting smiled at her, "It's okay. I'm just glad you're back to normal!"

Sting's words lessened the guilt but did little to stop the pain your heart still felt. Surprisingly though it wasn't the kiss you saw that was fresh in your mind but that same nightmare. Especially that red ring. Everything about it felt evil, it reminded you of your father in that way.

It was a strange feeling. You were heartbroken, with sore muscles, a headache, and a pulse racing in fear. In all honestly you felt like crap. Wasn't having one life crisis on your plate enough? You not only had to get over your best friend getting together your long time crush but there was the recurring nightmares and the crushing feeling that something was wrong with you...mentally.

You had no memory of attacking Sting, instead your mind seemed to have filled those moments with that horrible nightmare. You tried your best to lie down and sleep that night but it was impossible. There was no way you could sleep with so much on your mind, and so you suffered the deafening silence alone. Wondering what the hell was going on with you.

**AN: So I hope it's going good so far. I also hope I've filled your minds with a few questions as well as theories. B) Truthfully****_ I_**** don't even know how this will end yet but I might have a lot more ideas forming! There are some times in this chapter where I wonder if I've gotten the characters personalities right but I just ended up writing what felt natural in my mind. Hope you liked it! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Considering my college classes have started again it might be a long time until I update again. I really need to focus on my studies so I may be putting all my fanfictions aside for now. Sorry but I just can't keep my attention on my fanfictions and college work at the same time. But I will try to keep writing when I have free time. Just know that it will most likely be a long time until I can update again. Anyway here's the next chapter, enjoy. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima. **

After what happened in the park you would have expected things to go back to normal, or at least that's what you hoped. Nothing seemed to be normal now. You found yourself losing control at the worst times. You'd became edgy and anything your friends said made you lash out. Once during a mission you paused completely in your tracks. You were told that you stood there immersed in something no one else could see, in actuality your memory of that event was a big mess. All that you seemed to see when you looked back on that was the same red ring. You were beginning to hate that thing, and you didn't even have a clue as to what it was.

Now you found yourself huddling behind a bush in Orga's garden. Something was seriously wrong with you and you were convinced it was dangerous for your friends too. Sting didn't seem too upset about you trying to kill him but it didn't change what you did.

You hugged your knees tighter as a cool breeze blew your hair back. The tree you hid behind wasn't very comfortable, the bark dug into your back and the roots stuck into your bottom in all the worst places. Somehow, though, it kept you in check with reality. It was a constant reminder that you were here and not living a nightmare everyday.

Though you wanted to believe this was all just a bad dream, thoughts like that were irrational. You had to find a way to combat this sickness before you ended up hurting someone else.

"(Y/n)?" You should have known your hiding spot wouldn't last long. Yukino came around the trunk of the tree looking for you. You didn't look up as she sat down beside you. "The guild is having a pool party to celebrate Sabertooth's recent success. You should come inside and join us." She smiled sweetly at you, giving you her best sympathetic look.

You didn't answer immediately. It's true Sabertooth has fit right into it's new reputation as the second strongest guild with pride, and have gained helpful new members since the GMG, but you hardly felt like you could have fun if you tried. There was too much on your mind. You turned away in shame. Wanting to spill the beans on every horrible feeling you had but not being able to find the words to do so was terrible. "That's okay. I-I'm not in the mood…" You told her miserably.

Yukino worried for you just like the others did, possibly even more, which was exactly why you didn't want to hurt her. Yukino didn't leave, though. You could almost hear her mind thinking over words to say. "You're scared...aren't you?" This time you looked her way, unable to piece together how she had read your feelings so easily. "You're afraid what happened at the park will happen again. Right?"

Your breath caught in your throat and you found yourself unable to answer, so you just nodded. Yukino grabbed your shoulder and knelt in front of you, her steely gaze forcing you to concentrate on her. "It won't happen again! You have to believe that!"

You gritted your teeth. "And how can I? It wasn't me who tried to kill Sting it was some dark evil inside of me!" You words came out forced and they cracked with emotion as your eyes stung. "I couldn't control it! And who knows when it'll come back!" You stopped talking and lowered your head trying to get a grip on your racing heart before the helplessness crushed you.

"I know it won't come back because I know you, (y/n). You couldn't hurt your friends even if you tried. Don't forget, I trust you with my life!" Yukino poked your forehead, jogging your memory back to a time when all you had was her and the vow both of you made to protect each other.

You stood up and paced the other way. "It doesn't matter if you trust me, if I can't control this then there's no telling what I'll do. Everyone is better off staying away from me, that includes you!"

Yukino followed your steps, she never gave up easy. "Listen, (y/n)." She grabbed your hand and stopped your pacing while she spoke. "I know what it's like to be alone, you know that I do! So I'm not going to stand by while my friend is alone and scared...I want to help you."

"How? I don't even know what's happening to me. How can anything help?"

Yukino took your hand and began to drag you away. You protested, demanding to know where she was taking you. "We're going to find out what's really going on!" She called back excitedly, now starting up a running pace that brought you around the guild and into the city. Your mind still processed what she was saying while your feet kept barely kept you aloft while being pulled along.

"What do you mean?" You yelled, and Yukino swung around bringing up a finger to indicate her idea.

"You think something is wrong with you right? So we're going to see Porlyusica to find the truth!"

"Are you sure that will work? And besides doesn't Porlyusica...like really hate humans…" You shied away a little in Yukino's grip.

"It's the best chance we have. And maybe she'll at least be able to form a diagnosis?" Yukino didn't sound fully confident but none the less you followed the only lead you had. Whatever controlled you that night had grown until it ended up consuming your life, at the very least it would be better to know what it was, rather than remaining blind to this...disease?

Porlyusica seemed about as angry as you'd always pictured her. You knew Fairy Tail asked for her aid before and even Natsu mentioned she was a grumpy old lady. Truthfully your mind had blown her hatred of humans out of proportion but Porlyusica ensured that those thoughts were not incorrect.

"Why do all you humans keep bothering me! Can't you leave an old woman alone! I'm not a charity!" The purple haired mage slammed her front door, leaving a gust of wind to blow your hair back. There was no more sound as both you and Yukino stood there shocked.

You had refrained from getting your hopes up the whole way over but it still felt like something was falling inside you. You didn't know if that fallen object was your heart or your hope, or both. Your eyes hit the ground. "I told you she wouldn't help us. Let's just leave."

"No!" Yukino made a point to stay at Porlyusica's front door step. "I'm not leaving until she agrees to at least look at you!"

"Yukino-"

The door opened once more, though instead of a few harsh words, Porlyusica wielded a broom. She held it high in the air and repeatedly whacked Yukino with it.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Your friend protested but Porlyusica kept up her abuse.

"Scat, you filthy humans! I don't want your stench on my doorstep a second longer!" She yelled all the while using the broom like it was a deadly weapon.

You quickly got in between Yukino and Porlyusica, holding the broom in your hand you snarled; "Leave her alone! She's only trying to help her friend. You could be a little more generous to people with a good cause you know!" You lost your fuse and once again felt like the rug was about to be slipped from under you.

It was the same feeling you'd felt for days now, since the nightmares started. It was the feeling that indicated losing all control. The broom broke in half under your strong grip and you backed away a little trying to fight off a headache. Porlyusica must have seen something in you because she stood still contemplating the sight in front of her. Yukino laid a worried hand on your shoulder.

"Hmm…" The cranky old woman dropped her annoyed persona and contemplated something. You looked at her with anger in your eyes, wondering if she was going to start attacking you with the broken broom again or help you. Suddenly she turned on her heel, her cloak billowing as she spun. "Come inside, child."

"What?" You were just as confused as Yukino. However your shared look didn't last long when Porlyusica followed up her command with an angry outburst.

"I don't have all day!"

Neither of you wasted anymore time following her inside her home. Lining the shelves of the cottage in the woods were multitudes of potions and recipe books. A small cot-like bed sat in a corner by a window. Porlyusica grabbed your shoulder and forced you to sit down on it.

She grabbed your head and lifted your eyelids forcefully. Her firm gaze made your confidence shrink a little. She sure knew how to intimidate someone.

After concentrating on your eyes she turned her back and ruffled with something on a desk on the other side of the room. You dared not take a breath as she flipped through a few pages of a book then sighed and faced you again.

"How long has this been present?"

"W-what?" You stuttered.

Porlyusica sighed again. "How long have you had those nightmares? How long have you been losing control?"

"How do you-" You were about to ask how she knew what was wrong with you by just examining your eyes but she interrupted you.

"The red lining around your eyes is a curse mark, child. It can be deadly dangerous and I've seen it only once before. Now I need to know how long this has been going on?"

You looked at the ground. "Um...well a few weeks I guess."

"So it hasn't been that long, then. That's good. With my first patient I wasn't able to prevent the mark from controlling him as it had progressed too far. But perhaps something can be done in the early stages." Porlyusica barely mumbled the explanation then turned back around to work with some vials and liquids.

You stood up. "Hold on, you know what this is?"

"Hardly." She spoke bitterly. "I know it can destroy a lot more than a life if it so wishes and while I'm very well aware of it's destructive power I do not know it's origins. I cannot claim to know how to prevent it or if there's even a cure, a counter spell-? Whatever it is and wherever it came from I don't know, however I'm sure it's nothing but evil."

"You said you'd seen this curse mark before?" Yukino spoke up on your behalf. "Who was it that had the mark?"

Porlyusica paused for only a second the continued her swift movements between vials, flasks, ingredients, and mortar and pestle. She hesitated; "A close friend...I watched it tear him apart until the only emotion he felt was hatred, even for his own family. It seems this mark is hereditary."

Her last words threw you for a loop. "You don't mean-?"

"Yes, I do. Your father had the same problem when we were younger though I wasn't nearly as skilled with medicine as I am now. There was nothing I could do to help him. I don't plan to make that same mistake with you. Now, drink this!" She shoved a large soup spoon to your lips with a sour look.

Reluctantly you took it and sipped on the liquid. It tasted horrid, and felt even worse. With a feeling of fire streaming down your throat, you pushed the spoon away from your mouth but Porlyusica only pushed it back and forced you to swallow every last drop all at once.

When the vile liquid was consumed you didn't feel any different, all it left was a fishy aftertaste. You looked to Porlyusica for an explanation but she didn't answer and simply watched with serious anticipation. When a few seconds passed something flashed in front of your eyes. However you were the only one who could see it. It was that same red ring, the curse mark. This time it wasn't threatening you from across a hallway or taunting you in dreams but it was right in front of you. Large enough to encircle Porlyusica's fuzzy figure.

Your vision grew blurry, soon the only thing you could see was the mark, then came a feeling like a punch to the gut. You doubled over with a quick sound of pain, next came the migraine. Pounding so hard you felt as if your head would explode, pain so sharp it was as if you were being stabbed with a poisoned blade.

You opened your mouth wide and let a scream out, but you couldn't hear it. You couldn't hear anything, the less you knew about your surroundings the more panicked you became. All around you was nothing but that infernal red ring, fear rose inside you like a bomb. Just when you thought it would explode though you found yourself face to face with Yukino.

You unclenched your jaw and lessened the grip on her neck with the arm that pinned her to a wall. You glanced down and saw your other hand held a broken shard of glass to her throat. The glass had even cut into her a little and a single bead of blood rolled down her gulping throat. Your eyes grew wide. Instinctively you dropped the shard of glass and backed away. Yukino dropped a little after being released from your grip and held her throat, staring at you unbelieving.

Your knees weakened and you met with the floor. All you could do was stare at your scratched up hands as they held up your slouched figure on the floor. Some more glass shattered nearby and there was a sound of someone struggling to their feet to your right.

You didn't have to look to know that you must have pushed Porlyusica into her alchemy desk when the mark had taken control of you. Someone sighed and a firm, boney hand wrapped under your arm. Porlyusica lifted you to your feet, and walked you to the bed.

"I'm sorry…" You muttered the only words that seemed to fill your mind. They were quiet and uncertain in real life but they screamed like a tornado in your head.

"Don't be. I'm actually surprised you pulled yourself out of that. The mark's power is strong. However your will seems to be stronger than your fathers. You may learn to control this yet." Porlyusica explained in a monotone. "You will stay here and train. You'll learn to control this mark before it gets out of hand and maybe one day you can learn to live with it."

You slightly nodded your agreement. "Will she be oka-" Yukino began to say but Porlyusica interupted her.

"Are you still here!? Insolent humans! Leave, I don't want your stench here any longer than it needs to be!" She picked up the broken broom and threatened Yukino with it. Yukino didn't move and stole a last glance back at you.

You hardly felt you deserved to look at her let alone see the sympathy in her eyes after you had gone berserk but still there she was, concerned for you like always. "I'll be fine here. Tell the others I've gone on my own to train and that they shouldn't worry." You tried to smile but you were unsure how much that accomplished. None the less Yukino walked out Porlyusica's door, her head held in concentrate.

The old mage sighed deeply the minute Yukino left behind closed doors. She turned on her heel and placed her hands on her hips. "I hope you realize just how much trouble you've caused an old woman!" Her words were harsh and her tone solid. You shied away, but jumped up immediately when she picked up the broken broom handle.

You grabbed both parts of the broken broom from her. "I'm really sorry for all this. I'll clean it all up." You offered expecting the gesture to get you a little bit on her good side, if she had one.

Porlyusica just tore the broken broom away from you. "Nonsense! You have no idea how I sort my ingredients! Just go outside and…" She gestured her hand to the back door. "Train a bit."

"Train? Train what?"

Porlyusica had turned around, now she snapped back at you. "Your magic of course!" Then added more calmly, "It'll keep you busy until I can clean up this mess!" She gestured to the broken alchemy table and shattered glass mixed in with herbs that strewn the floor.

The guilt didn't stop you from leaving as soon as you could. The last thing you wanted was to spend more time with this crazy old lady. When you walked outside you could see large tree stumps were set up in a row to act as rock hard punching bags. _What kind of training does she use these for?_ You pushed the thought to the back of your mind as you began to train with the battered tree stumps.

Training with Porlyusica was both physically and mentally draining. In addition to the strain you had to put on your body in order to get stronger you had to deal with her bad attitude 24/7. She hates humans, she hates (m/t) wizards, and she most certainly hates reluctance to follow her demands. All of which she seemed more than happy to complain about to you, speaking lowly of your magic type and own race while you trained. You tried to swallow your pride and listen to her but sometimes this damned curse mark made you lose all control.

When that happened a simple whack to the head put you in your place. Despite all her efforts, though, you felt the curse mark slowly gaining control of you everyday. Porlyusica suggested longer training sessions. These training sessions she had in mind entailed the healing mage to search inside your mind for hours on end. You had no idea how she did it but everytime she searched your mind she always seemed to find things you'd kept buried for years. The most embarrassing moments you'd ever had were suddenly being unearthed by the last person you wanted to see them.

Somehow, sitting in a chair and letting the old mage poke around your brain with her magic left you drained of energy and sweating profusely. Usually you could only take about three sessions back to back before Porlyusica warned of bodily harm. You were reluctant to sit through more of those sessions but she insisted this was the only way she could try to understand the curse mark. "Understanding is the key to the cure." She would chant on an almost daily basis.

You didn't know how much more of this you could take. It had been three weeks and you were no closer to finding out what this curse mark was then when you first showed up here with Yukino. Thinking of Yukino brought your mind back to the small cot and writing desk Porlyusica had provided you with. You would sit down every night and write a letter to the guild, lying to your friends about how you were getting stronger. Only those letters had become less frequent, and you found your writing desk piled with letters both to and from Yukino. Either crumbled up in frustration never to be sent or pitifully unread.

You hated making people worry for you, but somehow you ran out of words to say that made it sound like you were alright and not slowly losing your mind. After a week the letters from Yukino had piled up so much that you felt guilty about not reading them, that guilt then snowballed until you couldn't bear to even look at the desk full of letters.

You couldn't worry about those though. Porlyusica was back and this time the stern look on her face told you not to challenge her word. "Sit down." She gestured to the chair beside her. You sighed, _Another mind poking session…_

"Are you sure these are getting us anywhere?" You knew it was risky but you popped the doubt question as you approached. "I haven't gotten any closer to controlling the mark, in fact it seems like it's getting worse."

Porlyusica met your doubts with a steely gaze. "Have some patience child." She snapped and pulled you into a sitting position.

Reluctantly you began another session. Like always Porlyusica placed her forefingers to your temple. You felt your brain jerk into chaos. You were no longer in her small cottage in the woods, now you were looking back at every moment you've ever had.

Every second of your life flashed away at speeds you didn't think possible. You knew Porlyusica was seeing the same things you were. You felt a migraine coming but the images of your past didn't stop.

You saw yourself talking with Yukino, both of you just children holding up a pinky promise to stay friends forever. You saw Sting and Rogue, teenagers and full of fighting spirit. You were watching from afar, your head pretending to be buried in a book. Neither dragon slayer noticed you were there, they were too busy training their magic on each other. You remembered those days you would sit and watch Sting train like this. You had always concealed yourself in the shadows and he never realized.

Your head pounding, this time particularly violent and your memories switched to your family home. You and your siblings shared a look of horror as your father paraded around the house in his usual hot tempered fits of rage. Only now did you realize the red rim around his eyes as he almost trashed the house and threatened to harm the family. Those rages he had were not because he had a short fuse like you'd always believed, he was being controlled by the mark of destruction. Suddenly you felt pity on him. If it is as Porlyusica says then the mark had control of him for a long time. Which left the question, how well did you actually know your father? Was everything he did a result of that mark or did his true personality show through at certain times and if so when?

You didn't have the answers and you didn't have time to ponder them as the memory switched. You realized in horror that this was the one memory you didn't want Porlyusica to see. You were standing in the hallway of your family home, darkness crept through, snuffing out light after light in it's attempt to get to you. Once again a pair of red eyes appeared through the pitch and began to spin. They spun faster and faster until a red ring was advancing on you. You ran instinctively and ended up in the living room. Your father stood before you, his harsh words and intimidating demeanor were nothing compared to the red that had completely swallowed his iris's.

You had to watch the nightmare you'd had for weeks unfold before you, once again powerless to do anything. It all felt too real. Your fathers insults, his cracks of the whip at you, the announcement of your disowning. You heard every insult ring around your mind, every crack of the whip was a real injury, not some nightmare or memory of a nightmare. Each injury built up a rage inside you, your blood boiled and the anger was about to blow up.

One more hit from your fathers whip and the anger was too much. You screamed in resonance with your pounding head, trying desperately to get it all to stop. Your scream had made the nightmare vanish and now you only saw black. There wasn't a thought in your head until you began to hear the sounds of the peaceful cottage again. You opened your eyes. In front of you Porlyusica stood catching her breath. The chair had been knocked over and from the looks of it the old mages house had been run through with a tornado.

A dark drop of liquid slowly fell over your eyes and as you brought your hand up you realized it was blood. Falling from a cut above your eyes. There were also similar cuts on your forearms and you felt them sting your torso. _It's not possible…_ With a jolt you realized these were the same cuts you had after the night your father disowned you. He had whipped you mercilessly just like in your nightmare, and now that nightmare had manifested itself in the real world?

"What…" You breathed still trying to understand what happened. Porlyusica opened her mouth, but you didn't stop to listen to her. You made your way to the front door. You pushed past Porlyusica and began running into the forest.

Tears stung your face, the injuries you'd sustained burned, but you couldn't stop. There was a feeling of fear welling inside your heart, it festered and controlled everything. It was a fear of the mark, of your father and of the destruction it could bring upon your friends if they were exposed to it.

Fear seemed to control your actions as you ran, the only thought that bloomed was; _I can't be allowed to be around people. I can't hurt anyone else!_

After a long while your steps slowed, you walked with less purpose but never stopped. The mark was a curse alright and if it could gain complete control over your father then there was no telling what it would do to you. The thought of getting away from humanity became the only driving force in your steps.

You hadn't even noticed anyone in front of you until you bumped right into someone's chest. Hands grabbed your shoulders and held you upright.

"(y/n)?" A familiar voice asked. You looked up and recognized the blonde haired blue eyed dragon slayer. "What happened? Are you okay?" His voice was filled with concern but the words only made the tears come again.

You pulled away, unable to face him. "I'm fine-" Your voice cracked indicating just how not fine you were. "Just a little bad scrapes from training." You added.

"What are you doing all the way out here?"

You stopped, you actually had no idea where you were. All sense of direction was clouded when you had run away. You stumbled on your words, you weren't able to form a sentence that would convince Sting not to worry.

"(Y/n). What happened?" His eyes met yours and you knew there was no convincing him you were okay anymore. That much was plain as the bloody bruises all over your body.

You looked away trying to dry the tears. "It doesn't matter, now." You held your head to meet his and announced. "Sting, I-I'm leaving Sabertooth."

**AN: Yes I know 'curse mark' is extremely cliche and unoriginal. Blame Naruto. My friend got me into it for the first time, I'm 100 episodes in and totally obsessed. Anyway it took me ridiculously long to write this chapter and as I said before it will take me longer to write the next chapter. Hope I didn't leave you with too much of a cliffhanger because it'll be a long time till I can write more.**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: So after being away for so long I'm back to say yes I'm still alive and yes I'm still writing. College is still a handful but I finally finished the nest chapter. Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

It had been a long six months since (y/n) left Sabertooth. Sting still couldn't believe he'd let her go like that. He knew something was wrong when she stopped sending her letters so he went to look for her where Yukino told him she'd be. Only he found the mage severely bruised and crying.

Sting tried to get her to tell him what happened but it seemed impossible the more she pulled away. Of course he'd tried to stop her when she said she was leaving the guild, but the fear in her eyes suddenly turned to determination and something a bit like guilt. He couldn't help but notice the small lining of red around her eyes just like that night in the park. Sting knew he was in the dark, he had no idea what the red lining meant, but it was obvious Yukino knew, though she refused to explain fully.

There was nothing he could do as she removed her guild mark in front of him. (Y/n) meant what she said when she said she was leaving Sabetooth and she stayed gone for a long time. Sting worried for her, she wasn't in the best condition when she and Yukino left for her 'training' months ago and she seemed even worse off the last time he saw her. Sting had to admit it was lonely without her. After becoming Master of Sabertooth he'd gotten to know all of his guild members a lot more and (y/n) had become a big part of his life. Now she was gone...he missed her.

It was useless, he knew, to think about what he could have done months ago to stop her from leaving but the thoughts still plagued him. What if he'd gone to see her earlier, could he have been there when she got those injuries and prevented them? Was there something he could have said to make her feel better, to make her stay?

Sting breathed out a sigh, it was six months later, any hope he'd had of her coming home was slowly being crushed. A door creaked as he pushed his way into the library. Yukino hadn't been in the guild when he arrived and she wasn't at her house, the only place left was the library. Since (y/n) left she'd been spending more and more time there. She said she was researching but Sting was again left in the dark about what she was researching.

When the rows of bookshelves were revealed the middle pathway lead straight to a cluster of tables one of which Yukino occupied, large texts and scrolls accompanying her. As he walked over he saw her eyebrows knitted in concentration, the slight frown to her lips making her look very studious. Sting placed his hands on her shoulders then reeled back when she jumped.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you...Have you been in the library all night?" He spoke remembering catching her in the same spot last night.

Yukino straightened her back and massaged her neck. "Yeah, I lost track of time." He couldn't help but notice the small sigh that escaped her as she looked over the table full of papers.

"It's not good for you to spend so much time pouring yourself into these books. You sure you're okay?" He bent down to give her a loving peck on the lips and took the chair next to hers.

Yukino smiled slightly before looking forlornly at the books and papers once more. "I'm fine. It's just really important to me to research this one thing." Her eyebrows went into concentrate mode once more and her gaze was lost to the world of the library.

"Are you ever gonna tell me what you're looking for?" He ran his thumb over the back of her hand. After (y/n) left, him and Yukino had just sort of happened. He knew Yukino felt a little strange about it, given the knowledge that her best friend had a crush on him for a lot longer than he realized apparently. But six months apart was a long time and Sting knew how he felt for Yukino. If (y/n) came back now he couldn't be sure if those feelings she'd had for him remained. So he took the chance, even if Yukino began distancing herself in the library he wanted to be with her.

Sting focused his gaze on his girlfriend though she seemed resolved in the papers in front of her. "Yuks?" He called after minutes had passed without her answer.

"Huh?" Her eyes focused on him again.

"Why are you always working so hard on this? What's it all for?"

Yukino averted her eyes. "...It's for (y/n)." Her voice was soft but her words were cold and dry. Sting didn't dare break the silence, confused as to what she meant and wanting to know the truth. Maybe what Yukino knew about (y/n) would explain to him exactly why she left Sabertooth.

Slowly and with a sad voice Yukino began to recall what (y/n) and her discovered at Porylusica's cottage. Sting listened intently to the whole story as Yukino explained it. At the end his head had dropped, bangs hiding his face he said. "That still doesn't explain why she left…"

Yukino felt for Sting, she hoped he didn't feel responsible for making (y/n) leave but he had been upset about it for a while. She only wished (y/n) would come and set their minds at ease, her absence left a lot of questions for them.

Yukino began to speak again, slowly and gingerly, as if her words could shake their remaining confidence. "I think she needed a change...Knowing she could hurt someone, knowing she _did _hurt you, was a lot for her to take in. I think she wanted to learn how to control it on her own." Sting didn't move, his hand still squeezing Yukino's for comfort. The celestial mage breathed out a shaky sigh and brought her head back up. "So that's why I've been in here. I'm looking up anything we might have on curse marks, that way I can help (y/n) control it."

It took a long time for Sting to reply, but when he did his smile lit up the whole room. "You have a heart of gold, Yukino."

It had been so long since you saw them, so long since you even stepped foot in that guild. It was such a relief to be breathing the city air again. The market place still had that same freshly baked bread for sale that filled the streets with the most lovely smell. It was nostalgic and made it seem like years had passed since you were last here. Though barely a full year had gone by. Being alone for eleven months did wonders for you. You had time to grow stronger, and understand the curse mark. You were prided in being able to prevent yourself from lashing out harshly now. You still felt the anger the curse mark caused but you could at least keep it on a leash.

It took a long time to understand it, and even longer to accept it but at last you finally got here. To a point where you were confident enough to face the people you hurt. You had missed them so much, and for weeks at a time you would contemplate going back but the curse mark kept you at bay. You had been scared, unsure of yourself and unwilling to accept the curse. Much of the time you spent alone was spent seeking out physicians who could 'cure' the mark in a way Porylusica couldn't. The words hit you hard when the nth physician told you for the nth time that it can't be cured.

You hit your lowest point and were convinced you could never go back, convinced this curse mark would control you forever. Acceptance finally came after two months of depression. You found it strange how some random old woman could have talked you out of that funk quite the way she did.

"If you feel evil inside of you, then fight back. Don't let this darkness swallow you and if it feels hopeless know that there is always redemption for a soul who tries. I've done plenty of terrible things in my life, things you couldn't even imagine, but in the end I was ready to lay my life down for my friends and the universe rewarded me with peace." The gray haired woman, who introduced herself as Ultear, went on explaining, but of course you're doubt forced you to ask;

"If I can't even control my own actions how can I protect my friends, how can they be safe around me?"

"Forgive yourself, child." She touched a wrinkled hand to your shoulder, and in her squinted eyes you saw a light shining through darkness. Those were eyes that had seen evil, that had _been _evil but still they looked so innocent. You couldn't understand how this woman thought but you were sure she lived her life on the high road. On a plane far more noble and above most other humans. "Just because there is darkness in you doesn't mean that you are bad. If you can forgive yourself for that there is nothing you can't do. Most of the time it is our doubt that gets in the way. Forgiveness removes doubt and opens up the way to the heart." She reached out her hand and touched your chest for affect. "Don't be afraid."

What the old woman said was right. The minute you allowed yourself some breathing room you found that the curse mark hadn't even crossed your mind and you could finally control it. That didn't mean you could go back though. The meaning of this curse on your family still eluded you. If your father passed it down to you like Porylusica said, then your siblings must have it as well.

You tracked down the places each of your siblings had moved to, in order to talk to them about this, only you found the people you once shared a childhood with had already been consumed by it...They had died years ago after portraying violent behavior and getting involved with the wrong people.

The knowledge of your siblings death also needed some time to work out internally. Like the rest of you family your brothers were loyal to Jiemma however they never treated you like the others had. There was no resentment in their eyes when you choose to stay in Sabertooth with the twin dragons. For a while, and until you met Yukino, they were the only ones who provided you any sort of empathy, however little that was.

You also knew you needed to become stronger, for Yukino, Sting and all of Sabertooth. You spent the rest of your time away training and you could finally say with confidence you had increased your level of magic enough to be respected at the very least. After a lot of deciding the day came that you could face Sabertooth after everything that happened.

You couldn't say things had changed much as you walked the familiar path back to the guild. On your way here you had been filled with excitement and nearly ran off the train but the closer you got to the guild the more doubt crossed your mind. Could you even be accepted back into the guild after announcing to the Master you were leaving. You did remove your guild mark right in front of him...Yukino came back to the guild but what if the others felt betrayed that you left them? What if they changed?

Your run slowed to a half hearted jog, your eyes fell to the stones below as you watched your legs slowly lose momentum. You came to a stop, resting in the middle of the street, the guild looming overhead. Doubt, shame, embarrassment and uncertainty hit you all at once. Suddenly you weren't so sure you could _ever_ go back.

Clamorous noises broke you of your pity party, a hooded figure ran into you almost knocking you to the ground.. He didn't even stop to say sorry, he got up and continued running as fast as he could, a lumby bag being carried in one hand.

"Stop that thief!" A familiar dragon slayer shouted. Sting was running full speed after the hooded man. You smiled, before Sting saw you, you whipped back around to the running man. Catching up to him quickly with your swift speed you sent him tumbling to the ground with a powerful punch.

On the ground the man looked up at you, fear shown in his brown eyes. He tried to get back up as fast he could but a strong blast of your (m/t) magic sent him tumbling to the ground again. You now had the attention of every passerby on the street. The scene you caused was quite the sight to behold given your high level of magic. People began whispering amongst themselves. You looked to the thief struggling to crawl away, his bag of goods long forgotten. Three loaves of bread fell out of the open cloth. You were about to deal one final attack but the sight of the stolen food made you stop.

You heard footsteps as Sting caught up to you. "Hey thanks a lot for taking down that thief!" He placed a hand on your shoulder happily. You hadn't seen him in so long you'd almost forgotten how attractive he was. He smiled your way and your heart nearly melted. Who knew after all this time away your feelings for him had only intensified.

It took him a while to look at the thief, now being detained by members of the royal guard, then back at you and back at the thief until he realized who you were. When recognition struck his face he stared open mouthed, his beautiful blue eyes wide.

"(Y/n)..." He breathed your name like he couldn't believe it. You hadn't thought eleven months was that long but by the look on his face he wasn't expecting to see you. _Was I gone just a little too long?_

"H-hi Sting." You tried to smile but were afraid it ended up horribly wrong. "Long time, no see."

"(Y/n) I didn't think you would have come back."

For some reason he sounded sad, "Oh, should I not have…?" You whispered words of doubt but Sting made them vanish the minute he pulled you into a hug. His arms wrapped around you, his chest pressed against yours and his head resting in your hair. You swore your heart was going to beat right out of your chest. He held on for a little longer than was comfortable and you were left with a very red face.

"It's so great to see you again! I was really worried about you." He talked like a mother who hadn't seen her child in years. It was strange hearing these words from him when you'd worked so hard just to bring your relationship up to a casual level. Now he was talking like you were family.

"Y-you were?" Instinctively you shied away from his gaze.

"We all were. After you stopped sending us letters on your training we thought maybe you were too busy but when you said you were leaving Sabertooth I really thought I was never going to see you again." His arm reached up to subconsciously scratch the back of his head while he rambled. "Yukino never stopped worrying or looking for you in the papers. Frosch stopped eating for a while. Even Lector was melancholy for a few months. But you're here now so you've come back to Sabertooth! Unless that's not why you're here at all, I mean I assumed if you came back it would be for the guild but-"

"Sting!" You interrupted his words before they lost complete meaning. "I am coming back to Sabertooth." You smiled and watched as his face lit up. He could power an entire city with those electrifying eyes of his. "If you'll let me." You looked to the ground almost in shame of ever leaving.

"Good. Sabertooth needs it's most valuable member back!"

The happy reunion was broken up by a member of the royal guard coming to speak with Sting. "Given you were the one to track down this thief, we thank you. We'll be taking him to prison for stealing."

"Wait!" You had to speak up. Seeing the loaves of bread he stole gave you second thoughts on his motives. "He only stole a couple loaves of bread. Does he really need to go to jail for that?"

The thief in question heard your words and lifted his head. Blonde hair fell over his brow, sweaty from the run, he looked stiff with disbelief. Looking at him now you could see how he was only a child, probably fourteen.

"He'll be going in for questioning and he will have a trial but the chances are slim he'll win. This kid has stolen before, and not just bread." The guard assured you but still you felt something was wrong.

You reached into the sack you'd carried for eleven months and brought out some of the money you'd earned from past jobs. "Here. I'll pay for whatever he stole, any bailout money and I'll take responsibility for taking him home."

The guard shifted his eyes. "That's a noble action but are you sure it's wise to help a lowlife?"

"He's just a kid!" You protested. "Please let me help him and if he steals again you can count me responsible."

The guard listed off all the money it would take to bail him out, you happily obliged in giving it to the guard.

"Must be your lucky day, kid." One of the guards said as he unbound the kid, then shoved him your way. The kid thief was still in shock as he looked at you handing the money to the guards. You took the kids hand, waved a friendly goodbye to the guards and walked away, Sting followed suit.

"Why did you do that?" The kid asked, his voice somewhat deep for being so young.

"Everyone has their reasons to steal. I figured you wouldn't be stealing bread unless you really needed it." He hung his head, keeping his eyes trained on the ground as you walked away. There was silence for a bit until you broke it, "So where do you live? I'll walk you there."

Suddenly the kid pulled away. "You don't have to...Thanks for doing that and all but I'm fine, I'll walk home alone…"

"What's your name?" Instead of letting the kid go you pressed for more information.

"Why do you care?"

Sting stepped in then, putting an arm around his shoulder and bending over to speak into the kids ear. "You know, (y/n) here is one of the strongest wizards in Sabertooth. You might want to answer her questions without being disrespectful."

"I don't care what guild you're in! I'm not afraid of you!" You guessed he was trying to look tough but his gentle brown eyes were far from it, in fact he looked scared.

"Oh really?" Sting came in closer to the boys face, letting his eyes glaze over. The boy instantly shied away from his menacing aura.

"Don't scare him too much. Sting." You laughed and Sting backed off. The kid's knees started wobbling the minute he pulled away.

"We're only trying to help you, so why don't you tell us your name and where you live? After all I did say I'd take responsibility if you ever stole again, I'd kinda like to know your name."

The kid stared at the ground, sweat forming on his forehead and teeth gridded. "Jacob...My name's Jacob."

"Alright and where do you live, Jacob?"

"I don't...I don't live anywhere…"

Your eyes widened at his words, no wonder the kid was stealing. Suddenly sympathy came down like a two ton anvil on your heart. You turned to Sting and you both shared similar thoughts.

"Jacob…" Sting began. "Have you ever wanted to be a mage?"

"What?" He reeled back immediately.

"Sabertooth would love to have a new member and there are lots of other mages there who can teach you magic. Then you'll be able to go on jobs and earn your own money, you won't ever have to steal."

Jacob's face blanched, he stood there for a while processing things, then he shook his head. "I don't care about your stupid guild!" He crossed his arms and looked away. Although he probably meant it to be mean you didn't think he really believed what he was saying. The way he looked longingly away, the way he set his eyes to kept them stoic and the way his voice sounded empty of any threat pointed to something else he wasn't saying.

"So you choose to live on the streets, right? Wondering from nowhere to nowhere on tired feet all the time. Never having a proper spot to rest your head, having to steal just to get your next meal and never knowing when you'll be able to eat again. Feeling helpless, ashamed and worthless all at the same time. Thats what you want, right?" As you talked the boy's arms slowly fell to his sides, his expression shifted into darkness and he grew increasingly silent. "...If you join Sabertooth you'll have food, a place to sleep, maybe you'll even be able to earn enough for your own place. But I guess you'd rather live alone."

Turning on your heel you took a step away from Jacob only to have his hand clasp your jacket. He didn't meet your eye as he said; "I could have...my own place?"

"If you work hard enough and go on a lot of jobs you could have a whole lot more!" Sting told the boy, spreading his arms to gesture something very big.

"Ca-can I join Sabertooth." Jacob started in a small voice. "I want to have my own place!"

You smiled sweetly at him. "C'mon, Jacob! We'll show you the way!"


End file.
